These confirmed cases were identified in various regions: Kano (1,207), Yobe (252), Bauchi (41), Katsina (nine), Lagos (eight)....
By Ayoro Jones
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has officially confirmed a total of 1,534 cases of diphtheria within the country. According to the NCDC’s diphtheria situation report spanning from May 2022 to July 2023, released on its website, there have been 4,160 suspected cases reported across 27 states and 139 Local Government Areas in Nigeria.
These confirmed cases were identified in various regions: Kano (1,207), Yobe (252), Bauchi (41), Katsina (nine), Lagos (eight), FCT (six), Kaduna (five), with additional cases found in Niger, Gombe, Osun, Jigawa, and Cross River. Notably, the majority of suspected cases were concentrated in Kano (3,233), Yobe (477), Katsina (132), Kaduna (101), Bauchi (54), FCT (41), and Lagos (30), accounting for nearly 98% of the total.
The report partly read, “Of the 4,160 suspected cases reported, 1,534 (36.9 per cent) were confirmed (87 lab-confirmed; 158 epid linked; 1,289 clinically compatible), 1,700 (40.9 per cent) were discarded, 639 (15.4 per cent )are pending classification and 287 (6.9 per cent) unknown.
“The confirmed cases were distributed across 56 LGAs in 10 states. The majority [1,018 (66.4 per cent)] of the confirmed cases occurred in children aged one to 14 years.
“A total of 137 deaths were recorded among all confirmed cases (CFR: 8.9 per cent). Out of the 1,534 confirmed cases reported, 1,257 (81.9 per cent) were not fully vaccinated against diphtheria.”
Diphtheria, an ailment triggered by a toxin originating from the bacterium Corynebacterium diphtheriae, is a disease that can be averted through vaccination. It is included in the routine childhood immunization plan in Nigeria.
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