Suspected Diphtheria case detected in Zabadani: Health Ministry
Two weeks ago, the Health Ministry’s Primary Healthcare Directorate was informed about a suspected Diphtheria case in a 27-year-old man in the Syrian town of Zabadani in Damascus countryside, the Health Ministry revealed on Tuesday.
The ministry said in a statement that the concerned medical teams immediately responded to the information and conducted necessary tests. The tests revealed that the young man has non-toxic Diphtheria, which is a non-severe infection that doesn’t cause an epidemic.
As a preventive response, a local vaccination campaign was carried out in the town by giving the Pentavalent vaccine to children under 5 years of age to provide them with protection from 5 life-threatening diseases: Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus, Hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenza. The campaign also included giving the Diphtheria and Tetanus vaccine for children up to 7 years of age and for adults.
The ministry pointed out that on June 19th, it was informed about two other suspected Diphtheria cases in Zanadani, but the results of the tests have not been announced yet.
The Ministry said that it always insists that families must abide by their children’s vaccination schedule in order to protect them against all dangerous childhood diseases.
According to the ministry, the anti- Diphtheria vaccine has been included in Syria’s National Vaccination Program, launched in 1987, and this why the disease disappeared thereafter.
Hamda Mustafa