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Although yearly averages of 27 diphtheria cases were reported in the European Union (EU) from 2016 through 2021, the number jumped to 362 cases in 2022. Now, investigators have performed clinical, microbiologic, and genotypic analyses of these cases (median age, 18 years; 98% male; 96% recent migrants; 80% unknown vaccination status).
Clinical presentation was cutaneous in 78% of patients, respiratory in 15% (including 3% with pseudomembranous disease), and both respiratory and cutaneous in 3%. In all, 17 hospitalizations and one death were reported. Coinfection with Streptococcus pyogenes was identified in 30 patients, and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in 15 patients. Among 287 Corynebacterium diphtheriae isolates, 98% were su…