Angina Diphtheroid

Article about the disease

Diphtheroid sore throat is an infectious disease caused by a specific bacillus of diphtheria diplococcus, transmitted by airborne droplets. The most common are acute forms of diphtheria, a disease that has been in the nature of an epidemic or even a pandemic for centuries. Today, the infection is under control thanks to mass vaccination of the population, but the disease has still not been completely overcome.

The peculiarity of the disease is a severe symptom complex, high toxicity, damage to body systems up to the occurrence of complications in the lungs, kidneys, and sepsis. The severity of the diphtheria process is due to a large number of factors; the primary form of diphtheria is especially dangerous, which increases the incidence among children. Statistics on the prevalence of the disease are not stable and vary depending on the state of national security, the state of the nation’s immune defense and other social factors. Pathogenesis begins on the mucous membrane of the pharynx with the formation of lymphoid accumulations in response to the ingress of diphtheria bacilli. Then comes the stage of diplococcus multiplication and release of large doses of exotoxins into the surrounding tissues and blood, creating a toxic lesion. Most often, the disease manifests itself in young children, especially in those who belong to the risk group of frequently falling ill, and in groups of children where the conditions of the sanitary and epidemiological regime are met. Less commonly, cases of diphtheria are recorded in adult patients with signs of immunodeficiency, chronic hypovitaminosis or alcohol intoxication, patients with reduced immune defense due to diseases of the blood, kidneys or liver. Depending on the severity, several forms of diphtheria are distinguished: pharyngeal and laryngeal, cervical, paratonsillitis, lacunar, infiltrative-ulcerative, hemorrhagic. There are acute and chronic course of infectious inflammatory processes. The incubation period is up to 4 days, the average duration of the active course is up to 7-8 days,