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The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention says 1,534 cases of diphtheria have been confirmed in the country.
It added that 4,160 suspected cases have been reported in 139 local government areas in 27 states.
In its diphtheria situation report from May 2022 to July 2023, released on its website, the NCDC stated that the confirmed cases were distributed 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 (one); Jigawa (one); and Cross River (one).
According to the report, Kano (3,233), Yobe (477), Katsina (132), Kaduna (101), Bauchi (54), FCT (41), and Lagos (30) account for 97.8 percent of the suspected cases.
The report said that of the 4,160 suspected cases reported, 1,534 (36.9 percent) were confirmed (87 lab-confirmed; 158 rapidly linked; 1,289 clinically compatible), 1,700 (40.9 percent) were discarded, 639 (15.4 percent) were pending classification and 287 (6.9 percent) unknown.
It said, “The confirmed cases were distributed across 56 LGAs in 10 states. The majority [1,018 (66.4 percent)] of the confirmed cases occurred in children aged one to 14 years.”
It also reported that 137 deaths were recorded among all confirmed cases (CFR: 8.9 percent), stressing that out of the 1,534 confirmed cases reported, 1,257 (81.9 percent) were not fully vaccinated against diphtheria.
Diphtheria, caused by a toxin produced by Corynebacterium diphtheriae, is a vaccine-preventable disease covered by one of the vaccines provided routinely through Nigeria’s childhood immunisation schedule.
