A YOUNG woman has died in a Brisbane hospital from the vaccine-preventable bacterial infection diphtheria, making it Australia's first recorded case in a decade.

The 22-year-old, who died in the Princess Alexandra Hospital late last week, is believed to have contracted the infection from a friend, who was recently overseas.

Because her friend had been vaccinated, he carried the bacteria, but did not develop the disease himself - and unknowingly infected the woman.

Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said people who had been in contact with the woman, and the man from whom she contracted the disease, had been traced and offered preventative antibiotics.

"This is so tragic. It is an extraordinarily rare disease in developed countries," Dr Young said.

"If you're fully vaccinated, you absolutely aren't at risk. You see a case like this, and it all comes home how sad it is because it's so preventable."Vaccination is such an important thing, and if it starts to drop off for whatever reason, then old diseases can re-establish themselves very quickly."

Dr Young said the Queensland public had no reason to panic about the possibility of a diphtheria outbreak, after the woman's case.

"We don't need to think we're suddenly going to have an outbreak of diphtheria here," she said. "We won't."

Diphtheria is a bacterial infection of the throat and nose, and is usually spread through coughing, sneezing or contact with infected sores.

The bacteria produce toxins that cause a membrane to grow around the inside of the throat, which can cause difficulty in swallowing, breathlessness and suffocation. Serious complications can include paralysis and heart problems.

Dr Young said vaccination against diphtheria was recommended for children at two months, four months and six months - with boosters at four years old and in Year 10.

She said vaccination was also recommended for adults when they turned 50, if they had not received a tetanus-diphtheria booster shot in the past 10 years.

Dr Young said that people, who had been vaccinated but missed a booster shot, may sometimes develop a mild case of the disease.

"Anyone going overseas to anywhere with low vaccination rates should have a booster," she said. "If they haven't had a booster shot in the last 10 years or so, they should see their general practitioner."

Originally published as Travel brings fatal return of diphtheria