Beuy Joob1, Viroj Wiwanitkit2,3,4,5. 1. Medical Center, Sanitation 1 Medical Academic Center, Bangkok, Thailand. 2. Department of Tropical Medicine, Hainan Medical University, Haiko, China. 3. Department of Community Medicine, Dr. D. Y. Patil University, Pune, Maharashtra, India. 4. Department of Biological Science, Joseph Ayo Babalola University, Ilesa, Osun State, Nigeria. 5. Department of Medical Science, Faculty of Medicine, University of Niš, Niš, Serbia.
Dear Editor,The report on “prospective study of diphtheria for neurological complications” is very interesting.[1] Prasad and Rai reported 28 cases and they noted complete recovery in all the cases.[1] They concluded that “pediatricians/neurophysicians should have a high index of suspicion to recognize diphtheritic polyneuropathy.[1]” Indeed, the neurological complication is not uncommon in diphtheria. In a report, 10% of the cases presented had the neurological complication.[2] We would like to share idea and experience on this issue. In our country, Thailand, there are sporadic outbreaks of diphtheria. In a recent outbreak in a province in Thailand, no neurological complication was reported but the common complication observed was cardiac complication.[3] Nevertheless, there is also an interesting report from our setting on deadly neurological complication due to diphtheritic subacute infective endocarditis.[4] In that case, the patient developed convulsion, resulting in brain death.[4] This implies the need for close observation on the complications, either neurological complication or not, in the patients with diphtheria. The neurological complication might be primary or secondary, and the complication might be finally recovered, as reported by Prasad and Rai,[1] or might result in fatality.
Authors: Pantavee Pantukosit; Manote Arpornsuwan; Kanokporn Sookananta Journal: Southeast Asian J Trop Med Public Health Date: 2008-07 Impact factor: 0.267