According to Ifedayo Adetifa, Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, as of October 19, 2023, there were 15,060 suspected cases of diphtheria infections in the nation.
Nine thousand four hundred eighty-seven were confirmed from 137 local government areas in 20 states, including the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja, he said.
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday in Abuja, he revealed that less than 1% of the confirmed cases—71.5% of which were between the ages of one and 14 years—involved newborns.
According to data provided by Adetifa, Yobe has 841 cases, which is followed by Kano with 7,747 cases.
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The number of illnesses in Bauchi State was 369, followed by those in Katsina (275), Borno (164), Jigawa (24), Kaduna (18), Lagos (8), Zamfara (7), the Federal Capital Territory (7), Gombe (5), Sokoto (4), Osun (3), and Niger State (2 cases).
According to the Director-General, there was one incidence of diphtheria infection each in the states of Cross River, Enugu, Imo, Nasarawa, Kebbi, and Taraba.
Speaking at the briefing, Faisal Shuaib, Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, reported that a total of 1,692,762 children between the ages of six months and four years had faithfully received the Pentavalent vaccine—a crucial defense against this illness.
He said that an amazing 3,166,419 kids between the ages of four and 14 have gotten the TD vaccines, significantly protecting the nation against the illness among kids and teenagers.
He explained 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 immunization 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 through focused vaccination campaigns.