Guidance

Diphtheria: public health control and management in England

Guidelines on the control of diphtheria in England including investigation and management of cases and close contacts.

• From: UK Health Security Agency
• Published: 30 April 2014
• Last updated: 19 September 2024 — See all updates

Applies to England

Documents

Public health control and management of diphtheria in England: 2024 guidelines

Ref: UKHSA gateway number GOV-17267

PDF, 1.25 MB, 64 pages

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Supplementary guidance for cases and outbreaks in asylum seeker accommodation settings

Ref: UKHSA gateway number GOV-17267

PDF, 593 KB, 28 pages

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Details

Public health control and management of diphtheria in England guidelines

These guidelines are intended for those involved in the public health control of diphtheria, including:

• health protection teams in the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA)
• NHS staff at local and national levels in England

Supplementary guidance for cases and outbreaks in asylum seeker accommodation settings

The supplementary guide is for use by Health Protection Teams to support the control and management of diphtheria in asylum seeker (AS) accommodation settings.

Further resources are available for asylum seeker settings:

• diphtheria disease and azithromycin Patient Group Direction (PGD)
• data collection form for asylum seekers
• leaflets and vaccination and treatment record card
• warn and inform letter and factsheet

Published 30 April 2014
Last updated 19 September 2024 + show all updates

1. 19 September 2024

   Updated 'Public health control and management of diphtheria in England' to and 'Supplementary guidance for cases and outbreaks in asylum seeker accommodation settings' .

2. 9 November 2023

   Updated immunisation for lab staff section and link to supplementary guidance for management of macrolide resistant infections, in 2023 guidelines. Added principles of management of macrolide resistant cases to supplementary guidance. Removed information for healthcare practitioners.

3. 16 August 2023

   Updated 'Public health control and management of diphtheria in England' to include latest data, antibiotic dosing and recommendations to antibiotic susceptibility testing. Updated 'Supplementary guidance for cases and outbreaks in asylum seeker accommodation settings' to include management of asymptomatic carriers and close contacts and antibiotic courses.

4. 15 February 2023

   Updated 'Supplementary diphtheria control for asylum seeker accommodation settings: information for healthcare practitioners'.

5. 6 February 2023

   Updated clearance swabs testing information on page 11 in the 'Supplementary guidance for cases and outbreaks in asylum seeker accommodation settings'.

6. 1 February 2023

   Updated 'Supplementary guidance for cases and outbreaks in asylum seeker accommodation settings'.

7. 5 December 2022

   Added 'Supplementary diphtheria control for asylum seeker accommodation settings: information for healthcare practitioners'.

8. 1 December 2022

   Updated asylum seeker settings guidance to include updated probable case definition, importance of antibiotic susceptibility testing, clarifying mass vaccination advice, clarified case clearance advice and what to do in the event of failure to clear carriage and new letter template.

9. 11 November 2022

   Added updated 'Public health control and management of diphtheria in England: 2022 guidelines' and new 'Supplementary guidance for cases and outbreaks in asylum seeker accommodation settings'.

10. 23 September 2022

    One sentence correction to Appendix 1 algorithm.

11. 21 June 2022

    Updated sections 1.2.1 and 1.4.

12. 25 April 2022

    Added 2022 guidelines.

13. 24 March 2015

    Updated guidelines based on feedback from the consultation on previous interim guidance.

14. 30 April 2014

    First published.