Diphtheria

Statutory notification

• Diphtheria is a notifiable infectious disease in Western Australia.
• Alert: Cases must be reported urgently by telephone to the local public health unit within a few hours of first suspicion of diagnosis.
• Case definition: See Diphtheria (external site) national surveillance case definition.
• Notifications: Notify using the online (external site) infectious diseases notification form (see Frequently Asked Questions for guidance).
• See also description of statutory medical notifications in Western Australia.

Public health summary

• Infectious agent: Toxic forms of Corynebacterium diphtheriae and Corynebacterium ulcerans.
• Transmission: Usually person-to-person spread by airborne droplets released when an infected person coughs or sneezes. It can also spread through direct contact with skin lesions or soiled articles.
• Incubation period: Usually 2 to 5 days.
• Infectious period: Until virulent bacteria are no longer present in bodily discharges and lesions – up to 4 weeks after symptoms start.
• Case exclusion: Excluded until non-infectious.
• Contact exclusion: Do not exclude. Contact management will be coordinated by public health unit staff.
• Treatment: Antibiotics and antitoxin treatment as recommended by the doctor.
• Immunisation: Children should be vaccinated according to the Western Australian Immunisation Schedule. Adults aged 50 years and over should receive a booster if they have not had one in the previous 10 years. See Australian Immunisation Handbook – Diphtheria (external site).
  Due to a current diphtheria outbreak in the northern regions of Western Australia (WA), the following people are eligible for a booster vaccine if it has been more than 5 years since their last dose:
  1. Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people living in the Kimberley, Pilbara or Goldfields regions.
  2. People with regular direct contact with Aboriginal communities in the Kimberley, Pilbara or Goldfields regions.
  3. Patient-facing healthcare workers, including WA Health staff, general practitioners, primary health care nurses and Aboriginal health practitioners/ workers.
  4. In addition, children and adolescents eligible under the National Immunisation Program, including school-based programs, who are not up to date with their scheduled diphtheria-containing vaccines, should be followed up and offered vaccination.
• Case follow-up: Conducted by local public health units and the Communicable Disease Control Directorate.

Guidelines for public health units

• Western Australian Immunisation Schedule
• Australian Immunisation Handbook – Diphtheria (external site)
• Protocol for accessing immunoglobulin blood products for public health indications in WA (PDF 470KB)

Resources for WA regional outbreak

• WA diphtheria outbreak case and contact management interim guidance (PDF 252KB)
• AHCWA diphtheria flyer
• Diphtheria factsheet (PDF 253KB)
• Diphtheria high-risk contact letter (PDF 181KB)
• Diphtheria medium-risk contact letter (PDF 178KB)
• Diphtheria low-risk contact letter (PDF 178KB)
• Kimberley Population Health Unit diphtheria flyer (PDF 3MB)

Notifiable disease data and reports

• Notifiable infectious disease dashboard
• General infectious disease reports