There have been verified cases of diphtheria in 1,534 persons in Nigeria, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.
In 27 states and 139 local government areas, there have been reported 4,160 suspected cases, it was said.
The NCDC reported that the confirmed cases were spread across 56 LGAs in Kano (1,207), Yobe (252), Bauchi (41), Katsina (nine), Lagos (eight), FCT (six), Kaduna (five), that Niger (two); Gombe (two); Osun (two); Jigawa (one); and Cross River (one) in its diphtheria situation report from May 2022 to July 2023, which was published on its website.
According to the research, 97.8% of the suspected cases are located in Kano (3,233), Yobe (477), Katsina (132), Kaduna (101), Bauchi (54), FCT (41) and Lagos (30).
According to the study, out of the 4,160 suspected cases that were reported, 1,534 (36.6%) were confirmed (including 87 lab-confirmed cases, 158 epid linked cases, and 1,289 clinically compatible cases), 1,700 (40.9%) were deleted, 639 (15.4%) were awaiting classification, and 287 (6.7%) were unclassified.
It said,
“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 further 137 deaths were noted among all confirmed cases (CFR: 8.9%), and it was emphasized that 1,257 (81.9%) of the 1,534 confirmed patients reported were not properly protected against diphtheria.
One of the vaccines typically offered through Nigeria’s pediatric immunization schedule protects against the vaccine-preventable disease known as diphtheria, which is brought on by a toxin produced by Corynebacterium diphtheriae.