Ifedayo Adetifa, the Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, reports that as of October 19, 2023, there were 15,060 suspected cases of diphtheria infections documented in the nation.
He said that 9,478 people were confirmed from 137 local government areas spread across 20 states, including the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja.
He revealed during a news conference in Abuja on Thursday that 71.5 per cent of the confirmed cases were between the ages of one and 14 years, with babies accounting for fewer than 1% of the cases.
According to Adetifa’s statistics, Kano has the most instances (7,747), followed by Yobe (841 cases).
“Bauchi State recorded 369 infections, followed by Katsina – 275, Borno – 164, Jigawa – 24, Kaduna – 18, Lagos – eight, Zamfara – seven, FCT – seven, Gombe – five, Sokoto – four, Osun – three, and Niger State- two cases,” he said.
According to the Director-General, Cross River, Enugu, Imo, Nasarawa, Kebbi, and Taraba states each had one incidence of diphtheria infection.
While speaking at the briefing, Faisal Shuaib, Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, stated that a total of 1,692,762 children aged six months to four years had been diligently administered the Pentavalent vaccine—a critical safeguard against this disease.
Furthermore, he stated that an amazing 3,166,419 youngsters aged four to fourteen years had received TD vaccinations, substantially bolstering the country’s defences against illness among children and teens.
He said that the phase two round one of the diphtheria outbreak response, which started on September 23, has affected 56 LGAs in seven states as a result of the ongoing outbreak.
He added that Katsina, another hotspot in the outbreak, had vaccinated 403,252 children with TD vaccines and 255,075 children with Pentavalent vaccines, demonstrating Kano State’s dedication to the cause by ensuring the immunisation of 1,111,310 children with TD vaccines and 544,737 children with pentavalent vaccines in phase two.
He claims that the efforts of the states of Kaduna, Bauchi, Borno, Jigawa, and Yobe have not been compromised either, with their combined efforts safeguarding the health and well-being of hundreds of thousands of children via focused vaccination programmes.
cc: Daily Post Ng
