1/2. Retrospective diagnosis of diphtheria by detection of the corynebacterium diphtheriae tox gene in a formaldehyde-fixed throat swab using PCR and sequencing analysis.The tox gene of corynebacterium diphtheriae was detected in a formaldehyde-fixed throat swab taken from a 68-year-old man who was reported to have died of suffocation due to a pharyngeal tumor. dna templates prepared from bacterial cells fixed with 10% formaldehyde were subjected to a PCR analysis with tox gene-specific PCR primers. The resultant 112-nucleotide-long PCR product was sequenced using a dye terminator method, and an expected 57-nucleotide-long internal sequence of the tox gene was detected. This method is applicable for retrospective diagnosis in diphtheria cases in which only a formaldehyde-fixed clinical sample is available.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = sample (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/2. Fatal diphtheria in an older woman.A previously healthy 68-year-old woman presented with fever and sore throat. Her condition was initially diagnosed as necrotizing streptococcal tonsillitis and was treated with penicillin g, given intravenously. A swab of her throat taken for culture at the time of admission yielded corynebacterium diphtheriae 48 hours later. At that time an electrocardiogram showed new T-wave inversion--evidence of diphtheritic myocarditis. She was immediately given 60 000 units of equine diphtheria antitoxin (following a test dose), but later that day she began choking, became apneic and died. The patient had not received any immunizing agents as a child, and no antitoxin was detected in a blood sample obtained prior to administration of the antitoxin. Her death re-emphasizes the seriousness of diphtheria, an infection to which many elderly people are susceptible.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = sample (Clic here for more details about this article) |