Diphtheria vaccination

What is diptheria?

Behind this is a bacterial infectious disease that can affect both your throat mucous membranes and your skin. The diphtheria bacterium is found all over the world, and you can transmit it primarily through droplet infection when sneezing, coughing, or talking. Infestation of the throat causes sore throats and sticking patches in the throat (so-called vengeal diphtheria), in the worst case death due to asphyxiation. In addition, the poison of the diphtheria bacteria can cause organ damage such as heart inflammation or nerve paralysis. If you have hardly heard anything about diphtheria so far, it is probably because the disease is one of the rare diseases due to our good vaccination coverage.

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Who and when should be vaccinated against diptheria?

These vaccinations are relevant for every age group.

Vaccination protection against diptheria (primary immunization) is usually established in childhood.

Booster vaccinations for adults with full primary vaccination should be given every 10 years. This is usually done in combination with tetanus, possibly also with pertussis and polio.

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How is the diptheria vaccination carried out and what must be considered?

Diptheria vaccination is a dead vaccine and is usually carried out as a combination vaccination.
The vaccination is carried out in the upper arm muscle.

The vaccination is well tolerated. Very often, the stimulation of the body's own immune system causes redness or swelling at the injection site, which can also be painful. General symptoms such as an increase in temperature, chills, tiredness, muscle pain or gastrointestinal problems can rarely occur in the first three days after vaccination. Such vaccination reactions usually subside after one to three days.

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What should I do if I think a diptheria vaccination is useful?

To check whether you have vaccination protection, simply arrange a Vaccination status check appointment in one of our avi practices and talk to our team of doctors. You will be given detailed advice as to whether you are already protected or whether you should receive a vaccination. The doctors will also check whether there are any other vaccinations that would be useful for you and will carry them out directly if necessary.