MADRID, Spain – The University Hospital of Ceuta has two patients admitted with confirmed cases of diphtheria after cultures detected the growth of Corynebacterium diphtheriae, the bacterium responsible for this infectious disease, with the test results allowing progress in characterising the cases and determining the next steps from a health standpoint.
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One of the cases corresponds to a 27-year-old woman residing at the Temporary Stay Centre for Immigrants, who had previously been at the equestrian facilities and was one of those transferred when places became available at the CETI. The second affected person is a minor who was at the SAMU Giralda centre, and according to information gathered, there is no apparent link between the two patients, meaning it remains to be determined whether the two cases have any epidemiological relationship.
In the minor’s case it is cutaneous diphtheria, caused by an open wound from a fall that became infected with a bacterium that is a variant of diphtheria, with the young person admitted to hospital and contact tracing being carried out as in the woman’s case.
The clinical samples from both patients have undergone microbiological analysis and in both cases the growth of Corynebacterium diphtheriae has been observed, a result that has allowed the bacterium to be identified although further studies are still needed to determine its characteristics. Those samples will be sent to Madrid to analyse the virulence of the bacterium, a relevant aspect for establishing health action criteria, with the results of these tests allowing determination of whether the detected strains present characteristics that could modify the measures to be adopted. The confirmation of the two cases places the focus on epidemiological surveillance and patient monitoring, with the available information for now not allowing a relationship between the two affected people to be established or the origin of the infections to be determined.
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The appearance of these cases comes amid concern over the detection of various infectious diseases in Ceuta in recent months, with different episodes reported since the mass entry of immigrants at the end of July that have required attention and monitoring by health services. Among the notified diseases are monkeypox, tuberculosis, chickenpox and scabies, pathologies with different transmission routes that require specific actions depending on each situation, and there have also been cases of hepatitis, with the first case of monkeypox in the city reported in mid-September. The detection of these diseases reinforces the importance of epidemiological surveillance, diagnosis and the application of the corresponding health protocols, with the virulence analysis results needed in the case of diphtheria to specify the appropriate measures in relation to the two confirmed patients.
