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Updated: Aug 14, 2026

Aseptic Laboratory Techniques: Plating Methods
Published on: May 11, 2012
[Classical pseudomembranous diphtheria caused by Corynebacterium ulcerans]
1Medizinische Klinik, Kantonsspital Winterthur.
Abstract:
In a 63-year-old patient presenting with signs of classical diphtheria including membranous pharyngotracheobronchitis and myocarditis, Corynebacterium ulcerans was isolated in pure culture from the membranes. The strain produced a toxin specific for C. ulcerans but no diphtheria toxin. The patient was discharged after a complicated hospital course including respiratory and cardiac failure. Besides Corynebacterium diphtheriae, which has very rarely been isolated in Switzerland in recent years, Corynebacterium ulcerans should be considered as a cause of classical diphtheria.
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