If the subject has never come up before, there is significant risk that your child, now a teenager, will not be receptive to this message. Read our tips for parents about sex education and our guide to age-appropriate sex education.
Putrid throat: a historic term for a severely inflamed throat, with tissue destruction, and fetid odor, often due to strep throat (streptococcal pharyngitis) or diphtheria. REFERENCE: Kasper, D., et al. Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine..
Diphtheria is a serious communicable bacterial disease that causes severe inflammation of the nose, throat and windpipe (trachea). It is caused by the bacterium Corynebacterium diphtheriae. The bacteria produce toxins that cause an abnormal membrane to grow in the throat, which can lead to suffocation.