An infectious disease that is almost gone seems to be coming back. In a new paper this week, scientists warn that diphtheria cases have risen steadily in recent years, while there are signs that antibiotics and vaccines are against them. bacteria they may be in danger of losing their power as the organism follow up to evolution.
Diphtheria caused by specific strains of the bacteria Corynebacterium diphtheriae. It is spread mainly through respiratory droplets and, more rarely, through skin contact with infectious wounds. The damage caused by these bacteria does not usually come from the disease itself but from the toxins they can produce. E.Symptoms of arly include sore throat and mild fever. Within days, the toxin can kill enough cells around the neck to cause a grate to expressyish builds up of dead debris that makes it difficult for victims to breathe. Victims may also develop swollen “bull’s neck” caused by enlarged lymph nodes. Left untreated, the toxin can move into the bloodstream and other organs, causing severe internal damage that kills about half of the victims.
Although diphtheria has been killing people for centuries, the crisis of antitoxins, antibiotics, and highly effective vaccines in the first half of the 20th century severely hampered it. From 1980 to 2000, following the efforts of the World Health Organization for universal childhood immunization in the 1970s, the tricead of annual new diphtheria cases has fallen by more than 90%. Today, it is about 85% of the world’s population vaccine against diphtheria, and the disease is almost extinct in many countries, including in the US
G / O Media may receive a commission
There are still pockets of the world where access to effective treatments and vaccines is more limitedhowever. The incidence of diphtheria has also recently started to rise. I.is a new study published On Monday in Nature Communications, scientists say there is evidence that endangered diphtheria bacteria are genetically modified enough to weaken the effectiveness of antibiotics and vaccines used against them.
The study, which included researchers from the UK, India, and the World Health Organization, looked at the genetic diversity of these bacteria (both toxin and non-toxin rays) over the past century, by examining samples collected from patients in 16 countries.. This included India, where the majority of annual cases of diphtheria now occur. They used this data to record the evolution of these bacteria over time.
There are indications that the bacteria begin to change depending on our weapons, the researchers found. They found a significant increase in the average number of antimicrobial-resistant genes carried by diphtheria bacteria in the last decade, compared to previous decades. Diversity of their “tox” gene, responsible for lethal production toxin, also increased recently. They identified 18 different versions of the toxin gene, some of which could alter the basic structure of the toxin, which may make existing treatments less effective..
A series of diphtheria bacteria may be resistant to antibiotics making it more difficult for doctors to treat infections. At the same time, the diphtheria vaccine works by training the body to specifically recognize the toxin. A.A significant change in its structure could weaken the state of our immune system, as well as the potency of the drug antitoxin.s. That said, these findings do not indicate that diphtheria is now insensitive to antibiotics or vaccines. The mutations found in his tox gene do not appear to affect the effectiveness of our routine vaccination, while there was no evidence that there was much resistance to the most common antibiotics used to treat infection.
The growing diversity of these bacteria suggests that it may one day “learn” how we can avoid our vaccines, antitoxins and antibiotics. And against conventional trends, that is certainly a cause for concern. In 2018, more than 16,000 cases of diphtheria were reported worldwide – the single highest annual tax in 22 years—and 2019 was even worse. And in the past year, the covid-19 pandemic has hampered vaccination efforts for diseases like diphtheria.
Even in the worst case scenario, vaccines and antitoxins can be changed if needed, and there are other antibiotics that doctors can use if they are against it.line drugs for those diseases that are still very rare begin to fail as well. But the researchers warn that we must continue to study and start preparing for these opportunities now, before it is too late and diphtheria will follow in the footsteps of other preventable diseases. vaccine as the measles did frightening recovery recently.
“[I]It is more important than ever to understand this historically important disease, in order to prevent it from becoming a major global threat again in its original form or in a modified, more appropriate form. , ”Wrote the authors.