Diphtheria cases and deaths, England and Wales, 1914 – 2013 – Graph

This page contains the accessible version of the "Diphtheria cases* and deaths, England and Wales, 1914 – 2013" graph. Click here to view the original graph or browse the text version of each section below.

* Notifications up to 1985, laboratory confirmed cases 1986-2013

 

Diphtheria cases* and deaths, England and Wales, 1914 – 2013

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Line graph of diphtheria cases*, deaths and vaccine coverage at 2 years in England and Wales between 1914-2013. From 1914 until the mid 1940s, number of diphtheria cases fluctuated with an average of approximately 55,000 cases per year. Cases swiftly fell in the 1940s when routine vaccination was introduced and have remained low with an average of under four cases per year since 2000.

Deaths decreased steadily from 1914-2013 from approximately 6000 deaths per year in 1914 to an average of fewer than one death per year by 2014.

Data for vaccine coverage at 2 years is provided from the early 1970s onwards. Initially, vaccination rates were high with coverage just under 80% however coverage fell to around 30% in 1979. Since then, coverage has risen to over 95% in 2013.

 

 

The following table contains the numeric data used to create the graph.

 

Year

Cases

Deaths

Vaccine coverage at 2 years

1914

59324

5863

 

1915

54780

5865

 

1916

53340

5366

 

1917

44611

4677

 

1918

46331

4803

 

1919

54585

4888

 

1920

69481

5648

 

1921

66506

4772

 

1922

52153

4075

 

1923

40009

2722

 

1924

41980

2401

 

1925

47720

2774

 

1926

51121

2994

 

1927

52194

2732

 

1928

61222

3191

 

1929

62840

3446

 

1930

74043

3497

 

1931

50290

2673

 

1932

43399

2339

 

1933

47435

2646

 

1934

68759

4085

 

1935

65084

3488

 

1936

58835

3081

 

1937

61341

2963

 

1938

65008

2861

 

1939

47343

2133

 

1940

46281

2480

 

1941

50797

2641

 

1942

41404

1827

 

1943

34662

1371

 

1944

23199

943

 

1945

18596

722

 

1946

11986

472

 

1947

5609

244

 

1948

3575

156

 

1949

1890

84

 

1950

962

49

 

1951

664

30

 

1952

376

23

 

1953

266

20

 

1954

173

8

 

1955

155

12

 

1956

53

3

 

1957

37

4

 

1958

80

8

 

1959

102

0

 

1960

49

5

 

1961

52

10

 

1962

16

2

 

1963

33

2

 

1964

20

0

 

1965

35

0

 

1966

20

5

 

1967

6

0

 

1968

15

1

 

1969

13

0

 

1970

22

3

78

1971

17

1

78

1972

4

0

78

1973

2

0

78

1974

3

0

77

1975

11

1

59

1976

2

0

38

1977

2

0

39

1978

0

0

31

1979

0

0

35

1980

5

0

41

1981

2

0

46

1982

4

1

53

1983

4

0

59

1984

4

0

65

1985

4

0

65

1986

12

0

67

1987

10

0

73

1988

5

0

75

1989

8

0

78

1990

4

0

84

1991

3

0

88

1992

4

0

92

1993

9

0

93

1994

8

2

93

1995

5

0

94

1996

8

0

94

1997

10

0

94

1998

5

0

94

1999

1

0

94

2000

7

1

94

2001

4

0

93

2002

9

0

93

2003

5

0

93

2004

1

0

93

2005

2

0

94

2006

3

1

93

2007

3

0

94

2008

6

1

94

2009

4

0

95

2010

2

0

96

2011

2

1

96

2012

1

0

95

2013

3

0

96

2014

1

0

96

 

Source: Public Health England (now UKHSA)

Page last updated Wednesday, January 4, 2023