File:Dr Freda Newlands examine a young girl with suspected diphtheria, at a specially-constructed clinic in the Kutupalong camp for Rohingya refugees, n (24732116427).jpg

Dr Freda Newlands (from Scotland), Emergency Department nurse Naomi Taylor-Thompson (from London) and paediatric nurse Becky Platt (from Watford) examine a young girl with suspected diphtheria, at a specially-constructed clinic in the Kutupalong camp for Rohingya refugees, near Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, 9 January 2018. The British medics are part of the UK's Emergency Medical Team, which is drawn from volunteers across the NHS.

The team was deployed to Bangladesh at the end of December 2017 by the Department for International Development, in response to a request for international assistance by the Government of Bangladesh and the World Health Organisation to help contain an outbreak of diphtheria in the huge camps which have sprung up around Cox's Bazar in the south of the country, since the arrival of over 700,000 thousand Rohingya people fleeing violence in neighbouring Myanmar.

Diphtheria is a potentially fatal contagious bacterial infection that mainly affects the nose and throat, and sometimes the skin. It is highly contagious and is spread by coughs and sneezes, or by contact with someone with diphtheria or items belonging to them, such as bedding or clothing.

The infection is usually caught after being in close or prolonged contact with someone who has the condition or is carrying the infection. An estimated 5-10% of people who get the infection will die from complications of diphtheria, such as breathing difficulties, inflammation of the heart (myocarditis) or problems with the nervous system.

By the end of January 2018, the UK EMT had triaged over 3,000 people, 500 of whom were treated for diphtheria.