Diphtheria: the logistics of mass swabbing.

Although diphtheria is a rare disease it is necessary to swab contacts of all cases in order to identify carriers. The selection of individuals who should be swabbed and the organisation of mass swabbing so that there is the minimum of delay between collection, culture and reporting are described. With this organisation it is possible for a laboratory to culture at least 1000 swabs in any one day.