Pediatric doctor Mihai Craiu comes with clarifications, after the wave of reactions on the Internet, about the “angel of the death of children”, the deadly disease that is widespread in Africa, being reported recently in Europe.
Doctor Mihai Craiu Photo: FB
“Clarifications for those who have had doubts about the title of previous posting. Some felt extremely psychologically assaulted. Others considered that a warning of the emotional impact of posting would have been necessary. The reality is that, at this moment, my messages are just going to people who have doubts, hesitations. I know I can’t change the perspective of those who firmly believe that vaccines are a tool of evil. Those who have doubts should be informed correctly about changing the risks to which their children are now exposed, in an increasing world, with increased mobility and increased degree of recurrence of preventable diseases by vaccination ”, He wrote Dr. Mihai Craiu, a pediatric primary physician at the Institute for the Health of the Mother and Child “Alessandrescu-Rusescu” in Bucharest, on his Facebook page the Virtual Children’s Hospital.
According to the pediatrician, in Europe there were in 2022-2023 almost 300 diphtheria cases and 4 deaths. There were many more in Africa. Only in Nigeria there were 9,478 confirmed cases in 2023.
Why is the diphtheria nicknamed “the angel of the children’s death”
“The death occurs in the small child by suffocation. The false membranes that are born on the tonsils have an increased thickness and density, behaving like a plug in the child’s neck. The shape of these membranes resembles an angel, which is why the disease received this name. It is not my idea, but a sad reality. Look at the picture below. It is from a patient with diphtheria ”, added Dr. Mihai Craiu.
Diphtheria is an infectious and contagious disease of the airways, produced by the Loeffler bacillus (Corynebacterium diphtheriae) and which manifests in particular in children. It is a serious disease that complications can lead to deadly cases. There is an effective vaccine to prevent the disease.
According to Wikipedia, the disease was named by the French doctor Pierre Fidèle Bretonneau (1778 -1862), who took over the term in Greek: διφθέρα – diphthéra- membranes. The name was given after the diphtheria pseudomembranes that appear on the mucous membranes destroyed by the disease.
