How Do You Get Diphtheria?

Reports of an intentionally unvaccinated child dying with diphtheria in Italy likely have some people wondering how you can actually get diphtheria these days…

After all, you don’t often hear about people getting sick with diphtheria anymore, right?

How Do You Get Diphtheria?

Well, you may not often hear about people getting sick with diphtheria in developed countries anymore, but that’s only because most people are vaccinated and protected.

Don’t be fooled, though!

Diphtheria is still around in many parts of the world, with cases and deaths on the rise recently.

So how do you get diphtheria?

First, know that there are two types of diphtheria:

• cutaneous diphtheria – a skin infection
• respiratory diphtheria – the more serious type

And, as you likely suspect, you can get diphtheria if you have close contact with someone with diphtheria.

Well, you can get sick with diphtheria if you have close contact with someone with diphtheria and you aren’t fully vaccinated and protected!

That’s why we have reports of several kids dying with diphtheria recently in industrialized countries, including:

• an unvaccinated 4-year-old in Italy
• an unvaccinated 4-year-old in Latvia
• an unvaccinated 10-year-old in Germany
• a partially vaccinated 8-year-old in Greece
• an unvaccinated 10-year-old in South Africa
• an unvaccinated 3-year-old in Belgium
• an unvaccinated 6-year-old in Spain – he died after spending 25 days in the ICU!

Deaths that were unexpected, as diphtheria had been under control in those countries for many decades!

Yeah, but if diphtheria isn’t common in these countries, then how were they exposed to someone with diphtheria?

In general, they could have been exposed when they:

• traveled to a country where diphtheria is still endemic and outbreaks are common
• were around someone who had traveled to a country where diphtheria is still endemic
• were around someone who had emigrated from a country where diphtheria is still endemic

What else?

The person who exposed them to diphtheria:

• may have had very mild symptoms because they were partially vaccinated, so they didn’t know that they had diphtheria
• may have been an asymptomatic diphtheria carrier

And yes, there are examples of this occurring.

In Germany, for example, the mother of the unvaccinated child was sick with a sore throat nine days before he got sick. The mother, while vaccinated, was past due for a Td/Tdap booster dose, but was still partially protected, which ensured that she had a mild infection. And yes, upon later testing, it was found that she also had diphtheria—the same strain that killed her son.

“The parents of the six-year-old boy who became the first person to contract diphtheria in Spain since 1987 said they feel “tricked” by the anti-vaccination groups they once admired.

“The family is devastated and admit that they feel tricked, because they were not properly informed,” said Catalan public health chief Antoni Mateu. “They have a deep sense of guilt, which we are trying to rid them of.”

“There are two victims here: the child and the parents” he said.

Parents of diphtheria-stricken boy feel “tricked” by anti-vaccination groups

And in Spain, the unvaccinated child was likely exposed when he shared a room with several asymptomatic vaccinated children at a school-associated camp who tested positive for toxigenic C. diphtheriae.

And no, this doesn’t mean that vaccines don’t work! After all, if they had not been vaccinated, then instead of being asymptomatic carriers, they would all have gotten sick with diphtheria, a life-threatening infection!

How Do You Avoid Diphtheria?

Of course, instead of asking how you get diphtheria, the better question is, how do you avoid getting diphtheria?

And that’s easy…

Get vaccinated and protected.

In addition to protection against tetanus and pertussis, the DTaP and Tdap vaccines also protect you from serious diphtheria infections.

Also, stop listening to anti-vaccine influencers. Don’t learn the hard way that they simply trick you into thinking that vaccines are dangerous and leave your family at risk to get sick.

More on Diphtheria

• Responses to the Unvaccinated Sicilian Child Who Died With Diphtheria
• Ask 8 Questions Before You Skip a Vaccine
• How to Become a Real Vaccine Skeptic
• When Was the Last Case of Diphtheria?
• Parents Who Regret Not Vaccinating Their Kids
• Autochthonous outbreak of respiratory diphtheria caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae, Germany, September 2024
• A case of respiratory toxigenic diphtheria: contact tracing results and considerations following a 30-year disease-free interval, Catalonia, Spain, 2015
• Rapid risk assessment: A fatal case of diphtheria in Belgium, 30 March 2016
• A patient with respiratory toxigenic diphtheria in Greece after more than 30 years
• Parents of diphtheria-stricken boy feel “tricked” by anti-vaccination groups

Last Updated on August 24, 2026