• About Us
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • DMCA
  • Follow on Google News
Wednesday, July 9, 2025
  • Login
Pioneer News
ADVERTISEMENT
  • Home
  • India
    • National
    • State News
  • Education
  • Business
  • World
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
    • Health & Fitness
    • Travel
    • Fashion & Beauty
    • Food
  • Tech
    • App News
    • Gadgets
  • Auto
  • Others
    • Sports
    • Finance/Money
    • Agriculture
    • Science
    • Astrology
    • Social Work
    • Press Release
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • India
    • National
    • State News
  • Education
  • Business
  • World
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
    • Health & Fitness
    • Travel
    • Fashion & Beauty
    • Food
  • Tech
    • App News
    • Gadgets
  • Auto
  • Others
    • Sports
    • Finance/Money
    • Agriculture
    • Science
    • Astrology
    • Social Work
    • Press Release
No Result
View All Result
Pioneer News
No Result
View All Result
Home Lifestyle Health & Fitness

Study warns Diphtheria could become a major global threat

Pioneer News by Pioneer News
March 9, 2021
in Health & Fitness
0

New Delhi: In a new health scare, a team of researchers from India, the UK and Russia, has found that Diphtheria, which is a relatively easily-preventable infection, has started to become resistant to several classes of antibiotics, and in future, it may even become immune to vaccination.

In a report, the team has also suggested that there was a possibility of the disease once more becoming a major threat across the globe because of the impact of COVID-19 on vaccination schedules in different parts of the world, coupled with a rise in the number of infections.

RelatedPosts

VRA Health Bridges Healthcare Gaps: From COVID Crisis to Global Telemedicine Success

VRA Health Bridges Healthcare Gaps: From COVID Crisis to Global Telemedicine Success

July 7, 2025
India’s Largest 24/7 Multi-Specialty Pet Hospital in Hyderabad – Seven Oaks

India’s Largest 24/7 Multi-Specialty Pet Hospital in Hyderabad – Seven Oaks

July 4, 2025

Diphtheria is a highly contagious infection. It can affect the nose and throat, and sometimes the skin. If left untreated it can prove fatal. In high-income countries, all babies are vaccinated against the infection. However, in low- and middle-income countries, the disease can still cause sporadic infections or outbreaks in unvaccinated and partially-vaccinated communities.

ADVERTISEMENT

The number of diphtheria cases reported globally has been increasing gradually. In 2018, there were 16,651 reported cases, more than double the yearly average for 1996-2017 (8,105 cases).

Diphtheria is primarily caused by the bacterium Corynebacterium diphtheriae and is mainly spread by coughs and sneezes, or through close contact with someone infected. In most cases, the bacteria cause acute infections, driven by the diphtheria toxin – the key target of the vaccine. However, non-toxigenic C. diphtheria can also cause disease, often in the form of systemic infections.

The researchers used genomics to map the infections, including a subset from India, where over half of the globally reported cases occurred in 2018. By analysing the genomes of 61 bacteria isolated from patients and combining these with 441 publicly available genomes that had been collected from across the world over 122 years (1896-2018), they build a phylogenetic tree – a genetic ‘family tree’ – to see how the infections are related, understand how they spread and assess the presence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genes and determine toxin variation.

The main disease-causing component of C. diphtheriae is the diphtheria toxin, which is encoded by the `tox’ gene. It is this component that is targeted by vaccines. In total, the researchers found 18 different variants of the `tox’ gene, of which several had the potential to change the structure of the toxin.

Diphtheria infections can usually be treated with several classes of antibiotics. While C. diphtheriae’s resistance to antibiotics have been reported, the extent of such resistance remains largely unknown.

The team looked for genes that might confer some degree of resistance to antimicrobials and they found that the average number of antimicrobial resistance genes per genome was increasing each decade. Genomes of bacteria isolated from infections from the most recent decade (2010-19) showed the highest average number of AMR genes per genome, almost four times as many on average than in the next highest decade, which was the 1990s.

In a report on their study published in Nature Communication today, the team said, “While our data does not, at present, highlight any efficacy concern in the currently used tox variant type 16 based diphtheria toxoid vaccine, the continually increasing toxin diversity and prevalence of non-toxigenic strains do however forecast a real possibility of vaccine escape and antitoxin treatment failure in future. While the current vaccine against diphtheria continues to remain largely effective, it is vital to conduct further in vitro and in vivo studies”.

The researchers were drawn from the Department of Biotechnology’s Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, Faridabad, Maharishi Valmiki Infectious Diseases Hospital, Delhi, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, World Health Organization, New Delhi, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, New Delhi, Cambridge Institute of Therapeutic Immunology & Infectious Disease, University of Cambridge, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, UK, Gabrichevsky Research Institute for Epidemiology and Microbiology, Moscow, Russia, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. (India Science Wire)

Tags: acuteAMRantibioticsbabiesbacteriumcontagiouscoughCOVID-19diseasefatalgenomegenomicshealth scareIndiainfectionmap phylogenetic treenoseoutbreaksresistanceskinsneezethreatthroattoxinUKvaccinationworld
ShareTweetSharePinSendShareShareSend
ADVERTISEMENT
Pioneer News

Pioneer News

Related Posts

VRA Health Bridges Healthcare Gaps: From COVID Crisis to Global Telemedicine Success
Health & Fitness

VRA Health Bridges Healthcare Gaps: From COVID Crisis to Global Telemedicine Success

by Pioneer News
July 7, 2025
India’s Largest 24/7 Multi-Specialty Pet Hospital in Hyderabad – Seven Oaks
Health & Fitness

India’s Largest 24/7 Multi-Specialty Pet Hospital in Hyderabad – Seven Oaks

by Pioneer News
July 4, 2025
Akanta Ayurveda & Yoga: Cherai’s Exclusive Ayurveda Resort in Kerala with Licensed Hospital Care
Health & Fitness

Akanta Ayurveda & Yoga: Cherai’s Exclusive Ayurveda Resort in Kerala with Licensed Hospital Care

by Pioneer News
July 3, 2025
ClinicSpots Simplifies Online Doctor Consultation in India, Connecting Patients to Trusted Healthcare Experts Across Specialties
Health & Fitness

ClinicSpots Simplifies Online Doctor Consultation in India, Connecting Patients to Trusted Healthcare Experts Across Specialties

by Pioneer News
July 1, 2025
Shruti Sharma, SupaFuelz, Clean Nutrition for Young Achievers
Health & Fitness

In Conversation with Shruti Sharma, CEO & Founder of SupaFuelz: Championing Clean Nutrition for Young Achievers

by Pioneer News
June 30, 2025
Next Post

Raw drug repository for medicinal herbs established in CSIR-NBRI

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
Things to Learn from The Weekly with ChoubeyJi

Things to Learn from The Weekly with ChoubeyJi

February 25, 2022
Oral Asformas – The Digital Marketing Entrepreneur who lit up his life through his Never-Back-Down attitude

Oral Asformas – The Digital Marketing Entrepreneur who lit up his life through his Never-Back-Down attitude

April 21, 2022
KGF Star Yash in Conversation with Anchor Anupam Anand

KGF Star Yash in Conversation with Anchor Anupam Anand

March 1, 2022
Choubey Ji is back with Season 2

Choubey Ji is back with Season 2

December 30, 2022

Changa Video sharing app crosses 2 million on play store

0

World’s first DeepUV Air Sanitizer, launched by Indian startup Dokat Inc.

0

Japan’s tech start-ups bitgrit and Atrae rolls out professional ‘matching’ app in India offering jobs in India

0

Surat’s company invents – low-cost,high-end ventilator in support of the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan

0
Shaligram Infotech, A Trusted Microsoft Partner In India, Marks 10 Years With Rebranding And Expanded Global Focus

Shaligram Infotech, A Trusted Microsoft Partner In India, Marks 10 Years With Rebranding And Expanded Global Focus

July 9, 2025
Mumbai Metropolitan Region to Get Its First Space Education Lab in Thane!

Mumbai Metropolitan Region to Get Its First Space Education Lab in Thane!

July 7, 2025
VRA Health Bridges Healthcare Gaps: From COVID Crisis to Global Telemedicine Success

VRA Health Bridges Healthcare Gaps: From COVID Crisis to Global Telemedicine Success

July 7, 2025
Aayoma Home Appliances Pvt. Ltd: Built in India, Trusted Worldwide

Aayoma Home Appliances Pvt. Ltd: Built in India, Trusted Worldwide

July 7, 2025

Categories

  • Agriculture
  • App News
  • Astrology
  • Auto
  • Business
  • Education
  • Entertainment
  • Fashion & Beauty
  • Finance/Money
  • Food
  • Gadgets
  • Health & Fitness
  • Lifestyle
  • National
  • Photography
  • Politics
  • Press Release
  • Religion
  • Science
  • Social Work
  • Sports
  • State News
  • Tech
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized
  • World
ADVERTISEMENT

Pioneer News, digital news and story platform bring you the news, articles, stories, and opinions on the latest happenings worldwide covering various sectors like nation, politics, and governance, social sector, review, foreign affairs, defence and security, latest review, lifestyle, entertainment, sports, technology, auto sectors, education, business and start-ups updates, Agriculture, Science, finance, money, food, and culture, etc.

Categories

  • Agriculture
  • App News
  • Astrology
  • Auto
  • Business
  • Education
  • Entertainment
  • Fashion & Beauty
  • Finance/Money
  • Food
  • Gadgets
  • Health & Fitness
  • Lifestyle
  • National
  • Photography
  • Politics
  • Press Release
  • Religion
  • Science
  • Social Work
  • Sports
  • State News
  • Tech
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized
  • World
July 2025
M T W T F S S
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
28293031  
« Jun    

Recent News

  • Shaligram Infotech, A Trusted Microsoft Partner In India, Marks 10 Years With Rebranding And Expanded Global Focus
  • Mumbai Metropolitan Region to Get Its First Space Education Lab in Thane!
  • VRA Health Bridges Healthcare Gaps: From COVID Crisis to Global Telemedicine Success
  • Aayoma Home Appliances Pvt. Ltd: Built in India, Trusted Worldwide
  • Luxiora Wins Emerging Beauty Brand Award at International Glory Awards 2025
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • DMCA
  • Follow on Google News

© 2021 Pioneer News.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • India
    • National
    • State News
  • Education
  • Business
  • World
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
    • Health & Fitness
    • Travel
    • Fashion & Beauty
    • Food
  • Tech
    • App News
    • Gadgets
  • Auto
  • Others
    • Sports
    • Finance/Money
    • Agriculture
    • Science
    • Astrology
    • Social Work
    • Press Release

© 2021 Pioneer News.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In