NCDC Records Increased Cases Of Diphteria Infection
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says there is an increase in diphtheria infection.
According to NCDC report on Tuesday, Nigeria has recorded 13,204 suspected cases
Out of the figure, 8,406 were confirmed from 114 local government areas (LGAs) across 19 states including the Federal Capital Territory.
Director General of NCDC, Ifedayo Adetifa, gave the surveillance updates at the diphtheria taskforce’s inaugural press briefing.
Diptheria outbreak in Nigeria so far
The NCDC DG while giving a breakdown of the diphtheria cases said confirmed cases are 8,406, while 6,202 (73.7 per cent) were aged one to 14 years.
Mr Adetifa noted that with 7,188 cases, Kano State in the North-west accounted for 86 per cent of the total 8,406 confirmed cases.
He said Yobe state followed on the log of infections with 775 cases, while Katsina and Borno recorded 232 and 118 cases respectively.
Meanwhile, A situation report by a child’s rights organisation, Save The Children International Nigeria (SCI), says diphteria is prevalent in Children and only 42% of children under 15 in Nigeria were fully protected from diphtheria, and in the recent outbreak, 80% of the confirmed cases have been found to be unvaccinated people.
Vaccination against Diptheria
According to the NCDC, more of confirmed cases in the country were unvaccinated against diphtheria.
He said: “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.
Parents were advised to take their children aged 0–14 years to the nearest government health facility to get vaccinated in accordance with the routine immunisation schedule and ongoing reactive vaccination campaign in the affected LGAs.
Executive Director, National Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dr Faisal Shuaibu said the only potent weapon against Diphtheria was vaccination.
He emphasised the need for Nigerians to take advantage of the daily free routine vaccination against the infection, which is ongoing at all government facilities across the nation.
Dr Shuaibu advised Nigerians to adopt non-pharmaceutical interventions, such as the use of face-masks, hand washing and physical distancing from affected persons without stigmatising them.
He also called on governors of affected states to enforce face coverings, like face-masks in public gatherings to slow the progress of the outbreak.
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