West Seneca Schools address diphtheria case

West Seneca, NY (WBEN) West Seneca Central Schools have been cleaning buildings after a case of diphtheria was found in someone within the district over the weekend.

Erie County Health Commissioner Dr. Gale Burstein says diphtheria is seen rarely after the vaccine was introduced in the 1940s. "There's only been 10 cases reported to CDC in the past two decades. There's two types of infection from the bacteria. One is a respiratory infection, which is in the throat or upper respiratory tract, and then the other is a skin infection, and so we refer to those as respiratory and cutaneous diseases. And diphtheria is spread from person to person," explains Burstein.

Burstein says everyone is required to have the vaccine to attend schools, so the risk of infection appears to be next to none. As for preparing for classes Tuesday. "They've been great partners working with us, so we think this is going to be a very self-limited problem," says Burstein, as the district is cleaning the schools.

What to look for? "We're recommending is for you know people that are either have children in the West Seneca School District or are staff in the West Seneca School District that they look for evidence of possibly development of disease up until the end of the incubation period of the last possible exposure, which is this Sunday, October 18th. So, for respiratory disease, signs and symptoms are sore throat, fever, swollen neck, fatigue, and then people can develop a like a thick gray membrane in their throat or their nose that is really from buildup of of some dead cells that were killed by the toxin, and that can cause some difficulty breathing and swallowing. And then, less commonly for the cutaneous infection, they you know the skin lesions look like any other bacterial skin lesions or rashes. So, and again, this is a bacteria. That would grow out in a culture," explains Burstein.

West Seneca Schools Superintendent Dr. Lisa Krueger has issued a letter:

I am writing to follow up the recent report regarding an individual in our school district who was diagnosed with diphtheria. Out of an abundance of caution, we communicated with faculty, staff and families of the schools where there may have been possible direct or in-direct contact in school or while on school bus transportation (East Middle, Clinton, Northwood, and Winchester-Potters Elementary Schools).

I have had conversations with both our school physician, Dr. Prise, and the Epidemiologist team at the Erie County Department of Health to be certain that we are doing all that is recommended to ensure the safety of our faculty, staff and students before school resumes on Tuesday, October 13, 2026.

Through these conversations, I have learned that there have been only ten (10) cases of diphtheria in the United States over the past 20 years. Due to the rarity of diphtheria in the United States, there are nuances of this that we may be less familiar with compared to other bacterial infections or viruses. To learn more about diphtheria, please visit the CDC’s website at: (www.cdc.gov/diphtheria/about). The best way to prevent diphtheria infection is by staying up to date with diphtheria vaccinations. CDC recommends routine diphtheria vaccination for everyone.

We are following the standard and established cleaning and disinfecting protocols, which are recommended in a school setting to reduce diphtheria transmission. Today, staff will be working within the school where direct contact may have occurred and in our transportation department to ensure surfaces within the school and potentially affected buses have been thoroughly cleaned and disinfected.

Should you have any questions regarding your child’s health, please contact your child’s pediatrician.

Thank you,

Dr. Lisa Krueger

Superintendent of Schools

It is believed the diphtheria case came in travel.