In 2016, more than 7,000 diphtheria cases were reported worldwide with about half reported in India. In addition, diphtheria hasn't been seen in Venezuela in decades; however, under a socialist, dictatorial regime, Venezuela has seen the comeback of this vaccine preventable killer to the tune of 450 cases since the summer of 2016.

In this podcast, I briefly talk a little about the history of diphtheria and some recent epidemics.

I was also joined by Senior Associate with the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, Amesh Adalja, MD who answered questions about transmission, pathology, complications, treatment and the vaccines.