Diphtheria Carriage

Abstract

The diphtheria carriage is a asympthomatic colonization of oro- and nasopharynx by toxigenic and nontoxigenic Corynebacterium diphtheriae. The carriage of toxigenic strains prevents a complete eradication of diphtheria infection in spite of mass toxoid immunization. The contamination by toxigenic diphtheria bacteria leads to the carriage if the person has a protective level of diphtheria antitoxin. Contamination with the toxigenic and nontoxigenic leads to the carriage if the person has no protection to the bacterial colonization factors. Some of them are surface protein structures and may serve as components of the future vaccines against diphtheria bacteria colonization.