Test Details: Diphtheria is a potentially fatal disease caused by toxigenic bacterial infection, particularly from Corynebacterium diphtheria (C. diphtheria). Isolation of C. diphtheria is technically lacking in sensitivity, and Elek’s test to detect toxin production has several difficulties associated with its application. Duplex real-time PCR to throat swab of suspected diphtheria patients can detect both bacteria and toxin-encoding genes simultaneously, faster, with higher sensitivity and specificity.