Complications of diphtheria seen during the 1978 outbreak in Khartoum

Twenty-nine cases of complicated diphtheria infection occurring during an epidemic in Khartoum are reviewed. The organism was a Corynebacterium diphtheriae subsp. gravis with an unusual property of fermenting sucrose. Eighteen patients were detected during prospective follow-up, where as 11 presented initially with a complication. Complications were mostly seen among pre-school children (65.5%). A routine immunization course had been completed in only two of the patients. Neurological complications were the commonest, lasting for more than two weeks, and five of the six deaths were due to cardiovascular complications.