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Guidance

Diphtheria: public health control and management in England

Guidelines on the control of diphtheria in England including investigation and management of cases and close contacts.

Updates to this page

From:
UK Health Security Agency
Published:
30 April 2014
Last updated:
17 July 2025
Show all updates

  1. Updated 'Public health control and management of diphtheria in England' and 'Supplementary guidance for cases and outbreaks in asylum seeker accommodation settings' .

  2. Removed link to 'Diphtheria disease and azithromycin: PGD template' as this page has been withdrawn.

  3. Updated 'Public health control and management of diphtheria in England' to and 'Supplementary guidance for cases and outbreaks in asylum seeker accommodation settings' .

  4. Updated immunisation for lab staff section and link to supplementary guidance for management of macrolide resistant infections, in 2023 guidelines. Added principles of management of macrolide resistant cases to supplementary guidance. Removed information for healthcare practitioners.

  5. Updated 'Public health control and management of diphtheria in England' to include latest data, antibiotic dosing and recommendations to antibiotic susceptibility testing. Updated 'Supplementary guidance for cases and outbreaks in asylum seeker accommodation settings' to include management of asymptomatic carriers and close contacts and antibiotic courses.

  6. Updated 'Supplementary diphtheria control for asylum seeker accommodation settings: information for healthcare practitioners'.

  7. Updated clearance swabs testing information on page 11 in the 'Supplementary guidance for cases and outbreaks in asylum seeker accommodation settings'.

  8. Updated 'Supplementary guidance for cases and outbreaks in asylum seeker accommodation settings'.

  9. Added 'Supplementary diphtheria control for asylum seeker accommodation settings: information for healthcare practitioners'.

  10. Updated asylum seeker settings guidance to include updated probable case definition, importance of antibiotic susceptibility testing, clarifying mass vaccination advice, clarified case clearance advice and what to do in the event of failure to clear carriage and new letter template.

  11. Added updated 'Public health control and management of diphtheria in England: 2022 guidelines' and new 'Supplementary guidance for cases and outbreaks in asylum seeker accommodation settings'.

  12. One sentence correction to Appendix 1 algorithm.

  13. Updated sections 1.2.1 and 1.4.

  14. Added 2022 guidelines.

  15. Updated guidelines based on feedback from the consultation on previous interim guidance.

  16. First published.

Applies to England

Documents

Public health control and management of diphtheria in England: 2025 guidelines

Ref: UKHSA gateway number GOV-19100

PDF, 1.28 MB, 66 pages

This file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology.

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If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of this document in a more accessible format, please email publications@ukhsa.gov.uk. Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.

Supplementary guidance for cases and outbreaks in asylum seeker accommodation settings

Ref: UKHSA gateway number GOV-19100

PDF, 649 KB, 29 pages

This file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology.

Request an accessible format
If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of this document in a more accessible format, please email publications@ukhsa.gov.uk. Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.

Details

These ‘Public health control and management of diphtheria in England’ guidelines are intended for those involved in the public health control of diphtheria, including:

  • health protection teams in the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA)
  • NHS staff at local and national levels in England

The ‘Supplementary guidance for cases and outbreaks in asylum seeker accommodation settings’ is for use by Health Protection Teams to support the control and management of diphtheria in asylum seeker (AS) accommodation settings.

Further resources are available for asylum seeker settings:

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