Introduction
Diphtheria is an infectious disease that can be transmitted from person to person via droplets. The bacterium produces an organ-damaging toxin, which also damages the heart and can be fatal. The disease begins with an inflammation of the throat and takes a severe course with shortness of breath and danger of suffocation. Since a therapy with antibiotics often comes too late, a vaccination is recommended, since the disease is still strongly represented in some countries. You can find general information on this topic on our main topic: Diphtheria
Vaccine
In Germany, routine vaccination is usually administered during infancy. The STIKO (permanent vaccination commission at the Robert Koch Institute) recommends a diphtheria vaccination in combination with tetanus and whooping cough (pertussis) for children, adolescents and adults. The vaccine is a dead vaccine.
This toxoid vaccine is an attenuated form of the toxin of the bacterium. It is administered to the body, which produces antibodies when this substance reacts. The immune system has thus provided antibodies that can immediately start fighting the bacterium in the case of an acute diphtheria infection.
The immune system has a memory function and thus remembers over years what it has learned through the vaccination. Since the number of antibodies decreases over time, the vaccination must be refreshed at regular intervals. In combination vaccination, the vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough, also known as pertussis, is administered simultaneously.
Immunity is achieved by active immunization. This means that the body recognizes the three vaccines as foreign and produces antibodies against them. This may result in a minor immune reaction, but not in the outbreak of one of the three diseases.
Immunity is guaranteed by the antibodies produced. The diphtheria vaccine belongs to the toxoid vaccines. Here the toxin causing the symptoms of the disease, which is produced by the diphtheria pathogens (Corynebacterium Diphteria), is rendered harmless and administered to the patient.
The harmless toxin is recognized by the immune system and antibodies are produced. The same applies to the tetanus toxin produced by the tetanus pathogen (Clostridium tetani), also known as tetanus spasm. The vaccine against whooping cough (pertussis) contains a dead vaccine. This means that only cell components of the pathogen (Bordetella pertussis) are presented to the immune system by the vaccination, whereupon antibodies are produced.
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