Home HEALTH Death Toll From Diphtheria Outbreak Rises To 38, NCDC Confirms

Death Toll From Diphtheria Outbreak Rises To 38, NCDC Confirms

by InlandTown Editor
0 comment

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) on Monday disclosed that the death toll from the current diphtheria outbreak has risen to 38 across four states of the country.

This was made known by the Director General of the NCDC, Dr Ifedayo Adetifa, in Abuja during the update on the COVID-19 pandemic response and development in the health sector organised by the Federal Ministry of Health and other partners.

Adetifa noted that there were preliminary reports of 117 suspected and 12 confirmed cases of the disease in epidemiological week 49 of 2022 and week two of 2023.

“As of yesterday Kano had so far recorded 100 confirmed cases and 32 deaths, Lagos recorded five confirmed cases and three deaths, Yobe recorded 17 confirmed cases and three deaths while Osun recorded one confirmed case and no death,” he said.

ā€œGiven the sub-optimal coverage for the third dose of diphtheria containing pentavalent vaccine (54% ā€“ 2021 Nigeria Immunization Coverage Survey) in the country, we expect more cases from more states.”

Adetifa stated that there has been an increasing case of meningitis in Jigawa State.
“The agency had also been notified of rising cases of suspected Cerebrospinal Meningitis (CSM) cases in Jigawa State,” he said.

The Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Faisal Shuaib, also at the event, said that as of 20th January, Nigeria had fully vaccinated 65,176,784 (56.2%) eligible persons with COVID-19 vaccine while 77,070,988 (66.4%) eligible persons had taken at least one dose of the vaccine.

He said; “A total of 10,390,911 persons had received the booster dose, adding that Jigawa, Nasarawa, Kaduna, Osun, and Kano still topped states with eligible populations fully vaccinated with COVID-19 vaccines.ā€

Shuaib who was represented by the Director of Planning Research and Statistics, Dr Abdullahi Bulama Garba, gave the five least performing states for COVID-19 vaccination as Rivers, Bayelsa, Ondo, Kogi and Ebonyi.

However, Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, enjoined Nigerians to disregard a letter trending on social media suggesting that an unknown deadly flu was detected in some Nigerians in China.

“Relevant health organisations like the World Health Organisation (WHO) and US Centres for Disease Control which usually spot such outbreaks were yet to say anything about it or issue an advisory on it,” he said.

Related Articles

Leave a Comment

* By using this form you agree with the storage and handling of your data by this website.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Accept Read More