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From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
Report from the Federal Ministry of Health indicated that Kano, Yobe and Katsina States have recorded the highest cases of diphtheria as at yesterday with 7,188, 775, and 232 cases, respectively.
Also within the period, Borno State reported 118 cases, Jigawa 23 cases, Bauchi 20 cases, Kaduna 17 cases, Lagos eight cases, FCT, six cases, Gombe, five cases, Osun and Sokoto three cases each, Niger two cases, Cross River, Enugu, Imo, Nasarawa, Zamfara and Kebbi, one case each.
Kano alone carries the majority of cases at over 84 per cent, making it the epicentre of the outbreak.
This was disclosed to journalists at a press conference in Abuja on Monday by the Executive Director, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Faisal Shuaib.
He said 13,204 cases of diphtheria had been reported as at October 3, 2023, out of which 8,406 were confirmed cases from114 Local Government Areas in 19 states, including the FCT.
“Our records indicated that most of the confirmed cases of diphtheria were reported from unvaccinated children. Of the 8,406 confirmed cases, 5,371 (64 per cent) are either unvaccinated or partially vaccinated; 966 (11 per cent) with unknown vaccination status, while 2,069 (25 per cent) are fully vaccinated against diphtheria,” he said.
The NPHCDA boss further disclosed that the19 states with high cases of diphtheria were considering reinstating mandatory facemask use in public gatherings as a preventive measure against community transmission of the disease.
He, however, confirmed that Standard Operating Procedures for Diphtheria Antitoxin (DAT) use in health facilities and treatment centres have developed and disseminated across the states, in addition to other case management measures.
“Kano, as the epicentre of the outbreak, has been at the forefront of vaccination efforts. We have implemented rounds 1 and 2 of the vaccination campaign in five high-burden Local Government Areas (LGAs) in February and April 2023, respectively, while round 3 was integrated into routine immunization programmes to further bolster our response.
“Beyond Kano, we expanded our response to include Kaduna, Katsina, Bauchi, and Yobe in our phase one response. These states engaged, trained, and executed vaccination campaigns in 25 high-burden LGAs within their borders,” he said
In his remark, the Director General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr. Ifedayo Adetifa, said that they were working with the states’ ministries of health to intensify reactive vaccination, case identification, laboratory confirmation, case management, as well as risk communication and community engagement to achieve a reduction in cases.
He, therefore, encouraged individuals with signs and symptoms suggestive of diphtheria to promptly present themselves to a healthcare facility or designated diphtheria treatment centres, while healthcare workers are required to maintain a high index of suspicion and notify their LGA and/or state Disease Surveillance Officer (DSNO), should they suspect diphtheria in any patient.
“But, the most effective protection against Diphtheria is vaccination with the Pentavalent or TD vaccine, which is free, safe and effective vaccines given at all primary healthcare centres nationwide,” he said.
