Nigeria recorded 7,842 suspected cases of measles from January to March 31,.
The cases were recorded from 34 states and the FCT, as well as 631 local government units across the nation.
Furthermore, the Cerebrospinal Meningitis Situation Report revealed that 4,266 suspected cases and 339 deaths had been recorded throughout 23 states and the Federal Capital Territory since the start of the 2023/2024 season.
The reports were received from Nigeria’s Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.
The study said that from January to March 2024, Borno (2,897), Yobe (345), Bauchi (319), Katsina (276), Osun (276), Lagos (269), and Ogun (255) contributed for 60.38 percent of the 7,679 suspected Measles cases recorded.
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The report reads in part:
“Of the suspected cases reported, 4,020 (52.35 per cent) were confirmed (990 lab-confirmed, 1,029 epi-linked and 2,001 clinically compatible), 654 (8.51 per cent) were discarded and 3,005 (39.13 per cent) were pending classification
“The age group nine – 59 months accounted for 2,876 (71.54 per cent) of all confirmed cases.
“A total of 39 deaths (CFR = 0.97 per cent) were recorded among confirmed cases. Up to 3,135 (77.98 per cent) of the 4,020 confirmed cases did not receive any dose of measles vaccine (zero doses).”
However, the NCDC stated that it was following up with states that were experiencing outbreaks to coordinate response operations.
On Meningitis, the institution reported that 761 samples were gathered from suspected cases, with 353 laboratory-confirmed.
According to the study, 94 percent of all suspected and confirmed cases were from five states: Yobe (2,566 cases and 212 confirmed), Bauchi (517 cases and 21 confirmed), Jigawa (389 cases and 68 confirmed), Gombe (315 cases and 25 confirmed), and Katsina (225 cases and 12 confirmed).
On April 12, Nigeria became the first country in the world to introduce Men5CV, a novel vaccine recommended by the World Health Organisation that protects against five types of the meningococcus bacterium.
Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, funds the global meningitis vaccine stockpile and provides regular meningitis immunisation to low-income nations.
Nigeria is one of 26 African nations with hyper-endemic meningitis, located in the African Meningitis Belt.
According to WHO, the number of meningitis cases recorded in Africa increased by 50% last year.
cc: Punch Ng
