JOHOR BARU, Feb 23 ― A 25-month old boy died two days ago here, believed to have been due to diphtheria infection, said Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

He said the child was never given any immunisation since birth and had begun to develop fever, cough and swollen tonsils on February 16.

He said the boy was taken to a hospital emergency unit on February 18 in poor condition and was admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit for respiratory assistance and given an antitoxin injection.

"Unfortunately, the child could not be saved and on February 21, he succumbed to severe diphtheria with multiorgan failure,” he said in a statement today.

He said a throat swab specimen showed the presence of Corynebacterium diphtheriae bacteria and the Ministry of Health (MOH) was waiting for laboratory results to determine presence of diphtheria toxin.

Dr Noor Hisham said diphtheria is caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae bacterial infection which affects the mucous membranes of the throat causing the tonsils to swell. This might further lead to bacteremia complications (blood infections) and endocarditis (heart infection) and organ failure, which in turn could be fatal.

"MOH has taken steps to curb the spread of the infection (diphtheria) including actively conducting inspections in the residential area where the case was reported, giving immunisation and health education briefing,” he said.

Dr Noor Hisham said since January this year to date, there was only one confirmed case of diphtheria in Malaysia.

He said last year, 18 cases with five deaths, involving children below 10, were reported in the country and in four of the five fatalities the victims were not given immunisation.

Dr Noor Hisham advised the public to always be aware of infectious diseases such as diphtheria, measles, mumps and pertussis, which could be prevented with immunisation.

"Immunisation is a safe and effective way of protecting your children from infection and failure to provide immunisation will not only expose them to infections but will also be harmful to others,” he said.

He called on parents who have yet to vaccinate their children to come forward and to ensure that they were given immunisation according to the schedule set by the Health Ministry. ― Bernama