noun
- bacteria that resemble the diphtheria bacillus but do not produce diphtheria toxin
Usage: medical; microbiology
Examples
- The laboratory identified diphtheroids in the throat culture.
- Diphtheroids are commonly found as normal flora on human skin.
- The microbiologist distinguished between true diphtheria bacteria and harmless diphtheroids.
- Diphtheroids can sometimes cause infections in immunocompromised patients.
- The presence of diphtheroids does not indicate diphtheria disease.
- Corynebacterium species are examples of diphtheroids found in clinical specimens.