- A case of skin diphtheria has occurred at the Federal Asylum Center in Boudry (NE).
- The person concerned is a teenage asylum seeker.
- According to a statement from the Neuchâtel authorities, medical investigations were initiated after an asylum seeker had suspicious skin wounds.
After the diagnosis of skin diphtheria was confirmed, the person concerned was treated in the hospital. His condition is stable. The contact persons from the environment of the sick person were isolated and tested.
As a preventive measure, the asylum seekers and the staff were given a three-day course of antibiotic prophylaxis and received a booster vaccination.
Legend:
After Bern and Thurgau, a diphtheria case also occurred in the Boudry federal asylum center in Neuchâtel.
Keystone / Laurent Gillieron
Several cases of skin diphtheria were recently diagnosed in the federal asylum centers in the cantons of Bern and Thurgau.
More dangerous pharyngeal diphtheria has occurred elsewhere
On Friday, a case of the more dangerous pharyngeal diphtheria in the federal asylum center in Kreuzlingen became known. The diphtheria pathogen can affect the upper respiratory tract, and some strains of the bacteria produce a toxin (diphtheria toxin) that can lead to dangerous complications and long-term damage. Mortality from pharyngeal diphtheria is high at up to 50 percent.
Diphtheria is widespread worldwide, but has largely disappeared in Switzerland thanks to the general introduction of vaccination after the epidemics in the 1930s.
regional journal St. Gallen; 8/19/2022; 17:30; sda/stav;hesa