Diphtheria

Diphtheria vaccination

The most effective way of preventing diphtheria is to ensure all of your vaccinations are up-to-date.

Vaccinations for diphtheria are part of the routine NHS childhood vaccination schedule .

In total, children should receive five doses of the diphtheria vaccination. It's usually combined with other vaccines. For most people, five doses provides a good level of protection against diphtheria for the rest of their life.

Babies

All babies are offered vaccination against diphtheria as part of the 5-in-1 vaccine that's given when they're eight,12 and 16 weeks old. The 5-in-1 vaccine, also known as the DTaP/IPV/Hib vaccine, protects against:

Tetanus
whooping cough
polio
Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib)

Pre-school children

A booster vaccine against diphtheria is given as part of the 4-in-1pre-school booster (also called the DTaP/IPV vaccine) to children who are three years and four months old. The 4-in-1 vaccine protects against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough and polio.

Teenagers

A final booster dose of the diphtheria vaccine is given as part of the 3-in-1 teenage booster (also called the Td/IPV vaccine) to teenagers when they're 14 years old. The 3-in-1 vaccine protects against diphtheria, tetanus and polio.

Ask at your GP surgery if you're not sure whether your family's vaccinations are up-to-date.

Travel vaccination against diphtheria

Further booster diphtheria vaccinations may be required if you're going to live or work in parts of the world where diphtheria is widespread. You should have a booster dose if your last dose was more than 10 years ago.
Regions known to have high rates of diphtheria include: