title: Diphtheria: a possible foodborne outbreak in Hodeida, Yemen Arab Republic.
abstract: Between 29 August 1981 and 16 January 1982, an epidemic of diphtheria produced 149 cases in Hodeida, Yemen Arab Republic. The overall attack rate was 11.8 per 10 000; the most frequent victims were males under 5 years of age, with an attack rate of 55.7 per 10 000. Severity of the illness varied inversely with age and the number of previous doses of DPT. A case-control study showed that vaccination with DPT was protective (P = 0.03) with an efficacy of 87.3% (95% confidence interval, 32.2-99.5%) among those who had received 3 or more doses. Risk factors for the development of disease were previous contact with a case (P = 0.002), previous contact with a person having skin disease (P = 0.04), obtaining drinking-water from a wheeled carrier (P = 0.008), and consumption of factory-made yoghurt (P = 0.003). The secondary attack rate among household contacts under 15 years of age was at least 1.3%.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004165:Diphtheria / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000635:transmission; D005260:Female; D005506:Food Contamination; D005516:Food Microbiology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D014871:Water Microbiology; D015006:Yemen