Clinical and Epidemiological Aspects of Diphtheria: A Systematic Review and Pooled Analysis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Diphtheria, once a major cause of childhood morbidity and mortality, all but disappeared following introduction of diphtheria vaccine. Recent outbreaks highlight the risk diphtheria poses when civil unrest interrupts vaccination and healthcare access. Lack of interest over the last century resulted in knowledge gaps about diphtheria's epidemiology, transmission, and control.

Methods

We conducted 9 distinct systematic reviews on PubMed and Scopus (March-May 2018). We pooled and analyzed extracted data to fill in these key knowledge gaps.

Results

We identified 6934 articles, reviewed 781 full texts, and included 266. From this, we estimate that the median incubation period is 1.4 days. On average, untreated cases are colonized for 18.5 days (95% credible inte

SUBMITTER: Truelove SA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7312233 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature