Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40172785›Full record

ArticleInfection2025

A case of fatal respiratory diphtheria imported from Poland to Germany: possible link to an undetected imported diphtheria cluster in Poland?

Anja Berger, Aleksandra A Zasada, Alexandra Dangel, Katarzyna Piekarska, Iwona Paradowska-Stankiewicz, Katja Bengs, Christine Noll, Andreas Sing

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In one paragraph

Article in Infection, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Two diphtheria sub-clusters with autochthonous cases in Germany and Poland within aEuro surveillance : bulletin Europeen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin · 2025
    Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Anja Berger *National Consiliary Laboratory for Diphtheria, Oberschleißheim, Germany.
Aleksandra A Zasada *Department of Vaccine and Sera Evaluation, National Institute of Public Health NIH - National Research Institute, Warsaw, Poland.
Alexandra Dangel *Department of Public Health Microbiology, Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority, Oberschleißheim, Germany.
Katarzyna PiekarskaDepartment of Bacteriology and Biocontamination Control, National Institute of Public Health NIH - National Research Institute, Warsaw, Poland.
Iwona Paradowska-StankiewiczDepartment of Infectious Diseases Epidemiology and Surveillance, National Institute of Public Health NIH - National Research Institute, Warsaw, Poland.
Katja BengsDepartment of Public Health Microbiology, Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority, Oberschleißheim, Germany.
Christine NollInstitute for Medical Microbiology and Virology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany.
Andreas SingNational Consiliary Laboratory for Diphtheria, Oberschleißheim, Germany. andreas.sing@lgl.bayern.de.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeDiphtheria is a re-emerging vaccine-preventable disease, mainly caused by toxigenic Corynebacterium diphtheriae.

methodsHere, we report a fatal respiratory diphtheria infection in a Polish woman travelling to Germany possibly linked to a cutaneous diphtheria infection in a homeless man living in the same geographic area. Laboratory diagnostics involving MALDI-TOF MS, tox-gene PCR, Lateral Flow Immuno Assay, a modified Elek test and Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) identified the causative strain as cotrimoxazole-resistant toxigenic Corynebacterium diphtheriae biotype mitis, sequence type ST574. Moreover, a review on the diphtheria situation in Poland is presented.

resultsNGS data suggest a common source of infection in Poland and a possible link to the Europe-wide outbreak of imported diphtheria with C. diphtheriae since 2022. This is the first diphtheria case in Poland since 2000.

Indexed as

Communicable Diseases, ImportedCorynebacterium diphtheriaeDiphtheriaFatal OutcomeFemaleGermanyHumansMalePolandTravelCorynebacterium diphtheriaeDiphtheriaMLSTNGSOutbreakToxigenicWGS

Identifiers

PMID40172785

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.