Work

Cutaneous diphtheria: easy to be overlooked

Year: 2015

Type: article

Abstract: A 65 year-old French man presented with a shallow skin ulcer on his supra-external ankle that started after insect bite and had evolved over three months without systemic signs of infection (Figure 1). The patient had returned to Marseille five days earlier from a nine months-long stay in Madagascar without consulting with a local physician. A swab sample taken from the skin ulcer was sent to microbiology laboratory with detailed clinical information. The specimen yielded growth of a non-toxigenic Corynebacterium diphtheriae strain.

Source: International Journal of Infectious Diseases

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijid.2015.01.008

Authors: N. Cassir, D. Bagnères, P.E. Fournier, P. Berbis, P. Brouqui, P.M. Rossi