{"id":306296,"date":"2026-10-14T07:42:16","date_gmt":"2026-10-14T07:42:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/306296\/"},"modified":"2026-10-14T07:42:16","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T07:42:16","slug":"erie-county-confirms-travel-related-diphtheria-case-notifies-west-seneca-school-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/306296\/","title":{"rendered":"Erie County confirms travel-related diphtheria case, notifies West Seneca School community"},"content":{"rendered":"

Health officials urge West Seneca students, staff and families to monitor for diphtheria symptoms through October 18; patient is expected to make a full recovery.<\/p>\n

WEST SENECA, N.Y. \u2014 The Erie County Department of Health has confirmed one travel-related case of diphtheria this month,<\/a> prompting officials to work with the West Seneca School District to notify students, staff and families of a potential exposure.<\/p>\n

Medical experts say the patient is expected to make a full recovery.<\/p>\n

Health officials say the notifications are being issued out of an abundance of caution. Those contacted have been instructed to watch for symptoms of diphtheria through October 18.<\/p>\n


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The Erie County Department of Health is also working with school nursing staff to review student immunization records. Officials say additional individual notifications may be sent to students who are under-vaccinated or unvaccinated.<\/p>\n

Diphtheria is a bacterial infection that has become extremely rare in the United States since widespread childhood vaccination began in the 1940s.<\/p>\n

Dr. John A. Sellick, an infectious disease specialist, says high vaccination rates have helped maintain strong levels of immunity across the country.<\/p>\n

Sellick also emphasized that protection against diphtheria should not end after childhood.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s a good opportunity to point out that even as adults, we should be getting our periodic Tdap \u2014 tetanus, pertussis, diphtheria vaccine \u2014 every 10 years so that we maintain those high levels of protection against all three of those,\u201d Sellick said.<\/p>\n

The Tdap vaccine protects against tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis, also known as whooping cough. Adults are generally advised to receive a tetanus booster, such as Tdap or Td, every 10 years.<\/p>\n

Health officials are urging members of the affected school community to remain alert for potential symptoms.<\/p>\n

Symptoms of diphtheria can include:<\/p>\n

Sore throatFeverSwollen neckFatigue <\/p>\n

In some cases, patients may develop a thick, gray membrane at the back of the throat. The infection can become serious, particularly if it affects breathing or leads to other complications.<\/p>\n

Anyone who develops concerning symptoms after a potential exposure should contact a health care provider and mention the possible exposure before arriving at a medical facility.<\/p>\n

The Erie County Department of Health says it is coordinating with West Seneca school officials and nursing staff to review immunization records and identify anyone who may need additional follow-up.<\/p>\n

Officials have not indicated that the case represents widespread transmission, and the notifications are intended to help the school community remain informed and take appropriate precautions.<\/p>\n

The case also serves as a reminder that staying up to date on recommended vaccinations remains an important way to protect individuals and the broader community against preventable diseases.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Health officials urge West Seneca students, staff and families to monitor for diphtheria symptoms through October 18; patient…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":306297,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[136,138,137],"class_list":["post-306296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-erie","tag-erie","tag-erie-headlines","tag-erie-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=306296"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306296\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/306297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=306296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=306296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=306296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}