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Corynebacterium diphtheriae is the bacterium that causes the disease called diphtheria. Bacteriophages introduce a gene into the bacterial cells that makes a strain toxigenic. The strains that are not infected with these viruses are harmless. [5] C. diphtheriae is a rod-shaped, Gram-positive, non spore-forming, and nonmotile bacterium. [17]
Diphtheria is an infection caused by the bacterium Corynebacterium diphtheriae. [2] Most infections are asymptomatic or have a mild clinical course, but in some outbreaks, the mortality rate approaches 10%. [1]
Diphtheria antitoxin (DAT) is a medication made up of antibodies used in the treatment of diphtheria. [1] [2] It is no longer recommended for prevention of diphtheria. [2] [3] It is administered through injection into a vein or muscle. [2] Side effects are common. [3] They include serum sickness and allergic reactions including anaphylaxis. [2]
Diphtheria vaccine is a toxoid vaccine against diphtheria, an illness caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae. [2] Its use has resulted in a more than 90% decrease in number of cases globally between 1980 and 2000. [3]
Diphtheria toxin is an exotoxin secreted mainly by Corynebacterium diphtheriae but also by Corynebacterium ulcerans and Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis, the pathogenic bacterium that causes diphtheria. The toxin gene is encoded by a prophage [annotation 1] called corynephage β.
Well-known exotoxins include: botulinum toxin produced by Clostridium botulinum; Corynebacterium diphtheriae toxin, produced during life-threatening symptoms of diphtheria; tetanospasmin produced by Clostridium tetani. The toxic properties of most exotoxins can be inactivated by heat or chemical treatment to produce a toxoid.
Elek's test or the Elek plate test is an in vitro test of virulence performed on specimens of Corynebacterium diphtheriae, the bacteria that causes diphtheria. [1] It is used to test for toxigenicity of C. diphtheriae strains. The test uses immunodiffusion.
Carl Merril has claimed that harmless strains of corynebacterium may have been converted into C. diphtheriae that "probably killed a third of all Europeans who came to North America in the seventeenth century". [25]: 94 Fortunately, many phages seem to be lytic only with negligible probability of becoming lysogenic. [156]