Diphtheria

Corynebacterium diphtheriae

Diphtheria, which had previously been called by a variety of names, gained its official name from French physician Pierre Bretonneau (1778-1862), who called the disease diphtérite. The origin was the Greek word for “leather” or “hide,” which describes the coating that appears in the throat (that is, the pseudomembrane). Bretonneau also distinguished diphtheria from scarlet fever.

Bretonneau recorded the first successful use of tracheotomy in a case of diphtheria. This procedure, which had been used to treat other conditions, involves cutting an opening in the trachea and inserting a tube through the opening to allow passage of air and removal of secretions. Bretonneau had attempted the procedure several times before, but the patients died. Later, another French physician, Armand Trousseau (1801-1867), showed a survival rate of about 25% in the tracheotomies he performed on diphtheria sufferers.

The New York City Board of Health told the Health Department to devise a plan to ensure the purity and potency of diphtheria antitoxins sold in the city. At this point, most of the antitoxin came from two suppliers in Germany.

Metropolitan Life, the insurance company, launched an anti-diphtheria campaign in New York. It donated $15,000 to the effort.

Louis Dublin, a Met Life statistician, estimated that childhood illnesses, including diphtheria, cost the American economy about $200,000,000 a year in lost parental wages and medical care.

Met Life used door-to-door polling, radio and print advertisements, essay contests, parades, and more to spread the immunization message.

Respiratory diphtheria has almost disappeared in the United States. Since 2004, the CDC has recorded no cases of respiratory diphtheria in the United States.

In fewer than 75 years, diphtheria, which was once the leading cause of premature death of children, was virtually eliminated in the United States.