FG develops national diphtheria laboratory as cases hit 8,406… 

The Federal Government is finalising the development of the National Diphtheria Laboratory to conduct preliminary and confirmatory testings of the disease in the country.

This is even as the government said there have been 13,204 reported suspected cases, out of which 8,406 were confirmed cases from 114 Local Government Areas in 18 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

The Director General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Ifedayo Adetifa, disclosed this on Tuesday at a press briefing on the update of the disease in Abuja.

A breakdown by states showed that Kano has 86 per cent of the disease burden with 7,188 cases; Yobe – 775; Katsina – 232; Borno – 118; Jigawa -23; Bauchi -20; Kaduna – 17; Lagos – 8; FCT – 6; Gombe – 5; Osun – 3; Sokoto – 3; Niger – 2; Cross River – 1; Enugu – 1; Imo – 1; Nasarawa – 1; Zamfara – 1; Kebbi -1.

Of the 8,406 confirmed cases, 6,202 (73.7 per cent) were aged 1-14 years.

“Our records have shown that most of the confirmed cases of diphtheria in the country were unvaccinated against diphtheria. Of the 8,406 confirmed cases, 5,371 (64 per cent) are either unvaccinated or partially vaccinated, 966 (11 per cent) with unknown vaccination status while 2,069 (25 per cent) are fully vaccinated against diphtheria”, Adetifa stated.

Diphtheria, caused by a toxin produced by the bacteria Corynebacterium diphtheriae, is a vaccine-preventable disease covered by one of the vaccines provided routinely through Nigeria’s childhood immunisation schedule.

The NCDC boss noted that the Federal Ministry of Health through the NCDC and National Primary Health Care Development Agency, and partners has continued to work with the Ministry of Health of affected states to respond to diphtheria outbreaks across different states in the country.

He, however, noted that security challenges are limiting the accessibility of some teams to some locations in affected LGAs across states.

Meanwhile, the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the NPHCDA, Dr Faisal Shuaib, said in recent months, the government launched rapid and comprehensive vaccination campaigns across the affected regions.