Doctors have notified 45 cases of diphtheria in the past decade, whereas just one notification was recorded in the previous decade, an Australian study shows.

The rising number of notifications underlines the need for greater awareness of adult vulnerability to transmission during travel, immunisation specialists say in an epidemiological review.

Co-author Associate Professor Frank Beard, a GP and public health physician, said 83% of the cases identified between 2011 and 2019 were cutaneous diphtheria and that only one case was reported in the previous 10 years.

“The good news is that cutaneous cases tend to be less severe [than respiratory diphtheria],” he said.