A twelve-year-old boy has died of diphtheria in northern Morocco, prompting parents to demand urgent action against the contagious bacteria infection in schools. 

The boy died on Tuesday at Lalla Meryem Provincial Hospital in the northwestern city of Larache after he received intensive treatment for the disease.

The boy was not vaccinated against the disease, Hespress reported. Two other children in northern Morocco have recently died of the disease.

Parents' associations are now calling for an urgent vaccination programme, and health monitoring in schools.

96% of people in Morocco have received three doses of the diphtheria vaccine, according to estimates from the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The WHO now recommend that children are given six doses of the vaccine before adolescence, though they do not record data for vaccinations past the third dose.

The vaccine is often given in combination with vaccines against other diseases like tetanus and polio.

Diptheria is caused by an infection of a bacteria called Corynebacterium diphtheriae, which makes a toxin that kills healthy tissue.