Prevention
If you have been in close contact with a person who has diphtheria, contact your health care provider right away. Ask whether you need antibiotics to prevent getting diphtheria.
Routine childhood immunizations and adult boosters prevent the disease.
Anyone who has come into contact with an infected person should get an immunization or booster shot against diphtheria, if they have not already received it. Protection from the vaccine lasts only 10 years. So it is important for adults to get a booster vaccine every 10 years. The booster is called tetanus-diphtheria (Td). (The shot also has vaccine medicine for an infection called tetanus.)