…FG deploys Response team to hotspots
By Joyce Remi-Babayeju
The Nigerian Center for Disease control, NCDC, has disclosed that Nigeria has recorded a total of 8,406 confirmed diphtheria cases in 19 states including the Federal Capital City.
The Director General of the NCDC, Dr. Ifedayo Adetifa disclosed this today at the inaugural press briefing on the update of the Diphtheria outbreak and response in Nigeria.
Adetifa said,” As of today, the 3rd of October 2023, there have been 13,204 reported suspected cases out of which 8,406 were confirmed cases from 114 Local Government Areas in 19 States including the FCT.”
He said that since the confirmation of the re-emergence of diphtheria in Nigeria in December 2022, stakeholders like the
Federal Ministry of Health, the NCDC, NPHCDA and partners have not relented in working tirelessly with state health ministries to respond to Diphtheria in affected states using reactive vaccination, case identification, laboratory confirmation, case management and community engagement.
He noted that the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Ali Pate
had set up a taskforce to
coordinate and optimize response efforts among relevant health stakeholders in the fight against diphtheria in the country.
Adetifa said, ” Last week the national diphtheria taskforce deployed National Rapid Response Teams (NRRT) to Kano, Yobe, Katsina, Bauchi, Borno, Kaduna, Jigawa and Zamfara to support the outbreak response in the State across all pillars. ”
In a situation report on diphtheria, the NCDC DG said, “Our records have shown that most of the confirmed cases of Diphtheria in the country were unvaccinated against Diphtheria.”
” Of the 8,406 confirmed cases, 5,371 (64%) are either unvaccinated or partially vaccinated, 966 (11%) with unknown vaccination status while 2,069 (25%) are fully vaccinated against diphtheria. ”
Giving a breakdown by states Kano – 7,188 (86%), Yobe – 775, Katsina – 232, Borno – 118, Jigawa -23, Bauchi -20, Kaduna – 17, Lagos – 8, FCT – 6, Gombe – 5, Osun – 3, Sokoto – 3, Niger – 2, Cross River – J, Enugu – 1, Imo – 1, Nasarawa – 1, Zamfara – 1, Kebbi -1 .
Of the 8,406 confirmed cases, 6,202 (73.7%) were aged 1-14 years.
Infants: <1%, 1-4 years: 14.4%, 5-9 years: 32.2%, 10-14 years: 27.1%, Adults > 20 years: 15% .
The NCDC has urged individuals with signs and symptoms suggestive of diphtheria to promptly present to a healthcare facility or designated diphtheria treatment centers.
We are currently finalizing the development of the National Diphtheria Laboratory, Adetifa said.
