Between 5 and 10 percent of patients die when their breathing muscles are paralysed. The virus enters through the mouth and nose, multiplies in the throat and intestinal tract, and then is absorbed and spread through the blood and to the spinal cord and brain. According to the World Health Organization, it can strike at any age, but over 50 percent of all cases involve children under three. Diphtheria Diphtheria is an infectious disease that spreads from person to person through respiratory droplets from the throat via coughing and sneezing. The disease normally breaks out 2 to 5 days after infection.
Damage is done by the toxin.
The disease usually affects the tonsils, pharynx, larynx and occasionally the skin. Symptoms range from a moderately sore throat to toxic life-threatening diphtheria of the larynx or of the lower and upper respiratory tracts. This occurs because the disease results in the formation of a membrane in the throat that may get so big it completely blocks the larynx, causing death by suffocation. Untreated patients are infectious for up to four weeks. Unless immunized, children and adults may be infected repeatedly with the disease.