Paul Ehiabhi Ikhurionan, Sunday Adanas, Osahon Osaghae, Ayebo Evawere Sadoh
{"title":"Diphtheritic polyneuropathy: Not so uncommon.","authors":"Paul Ehiabhi Ikhurionan, Sunday Adanas, Osahon Osaghae, Ayebo Evawere Sadoh","doi":"10.1177/00494755261454023","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Diphtheria is a potentially fatal infection owing to its life-threatening complications of respiratory obstruction and myocarditis. Less often reported is diphtheritic polyneuropathy (DP), which refers to signs and symptoms of various cranial nerve involvement and/or limb neuropathy within six weeks of a compatible clinical illness suggestive of diphtheria. We report four cases of DP occurring in a limited outbreak of 19 cases and review the literature. The most common cranial nerves affected were VII, IX and X. Importantly, all four cases had received their infant vaccinations. Diphtheria antitoxin and prednisolone were the mainstay of management in addition to physiotherapy support. All were discharged home and have made a good recovery. We conclude that DP is not so uncommon and its occurrence among children who had been vaccinated requires a review of the vaccination programme and schedules.</p>","PeriodicalId":49415,"journal":{"name":"Tropical Doctor","volume":" ","pages":"723-726"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6000,"publicationDate":"2026-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Tropical Doctor","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00494755261454023","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2026/5/27 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Diphtheria is a potentially fatal infection owing to its life-threatening complications of respiratory obstruction and myocarditis. Less often reported is diphtheritic polyneuropathy (DP), which refers to signs and symptoms of various cranial nerve involvement and/or limb neuropathy within six weeks of a compatible clinical illness suggestive of diphtheria. We report four cases of DP occurring in a limited outbreak of 19 cases and review the literature. The most common cranial nerves affected were VII, IX and X. Importantly, all four cases had received their infant vaccinations. Diphtheria antitoxin and prednisolone were the mainstay of management in addition to physiotherapy support. All were discharged home and have made a good recovery. We conclude that DP is not so uncommon and its occurrence among children who had been vaccinated requires a review of the vaccination programme and schedules.
期刊介绍：
The only journal written by and for health workers in low and middle-income countries, Tropical Doctor provides medical expertise and practical advice on how to apply current medical knowledge to the special circumstances of LMIC countries. This journal provides an ideal forum for sharing experiences and establishing best practice, aiding communication between medical professionals in different environments.
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