[A woman with a persistent cough]

Abstract

A 54-year-old, Turkish, unvaccinated woman presented with chronic cough. Bronchoscopy revealed an ulcer-like abnormality in the trachea. Surprisingly, the culture showed growth of non-toxigenic Corynebacterium diphtheriae. This is a rare pathogen that usually causes only local respiratory symptoms. At control bronchoscopy after antibiotic treatment the abnormalities were no longer seen.