RESUMO
In February 2017, a diphtheria outbreak occurred among Amerindians of the Pemón ethnic group in Wonken, Venezuela. A field investigation revealed ≈10 cases; clinical presentation did not include cutaneous or neurologic signs or symptoms. To prevent future outbreaks in Venezuela, Amerindian communities need better access to vaccination and healthcare.
Assuntos
Corynebacterium diphtheriae , Difteria/epidemiologia , Surtos de Doenças , Adulto , Difteria/história , Difteria/microbiologia , Feminino , Geografia Médica , História do Século XXI , Humanos , Masculino , Vigilância da População , Venezuela/epidemiologiaRESUMO
Memories of W.G. Sebald from the diphtheria he suffered as a child, gave rise to a discussion about the origin of classic clinical descriptions and the traps memory tends. Good examples of the latter are some experiences of Stendhal, who must also be distrusted given his hypersensitivity, which gave name to a psychosomatic syndrome. Mark Twain, a more practical man, brings us back to reality with a funny story about the terror the disease caused in the late nineteenth century. This leads us to remember isolation measures and topical treatments from the period immediately preceding the antitoxin. They included manual removal of the pseudo membranes, maneuver that led Marañón to misinterpret a painting by Goya on a scene of "Lazarillo de Tormes".