By Babatunde Solanke
The Federal Government on Monday Confirmed that Diphtheria has so far killed 453 persons, infected 7,202, and spread to 18 states across the country.
Diphtheria is a highly contagious vaccine-preventable disease caused by the bacterium Corynebacterium diphtheriae, mainly spread through direct contact with an infected person or exposure to airborne droplets.
A joint statement yesterday from the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, in collaboration with the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said “As of September 24th, 2023, there have been 11,587 reported suspected cases out of which 7,202 were confirmed cases from 105 local government areas in 18 states including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).”
The federal government said most (6,185) of the confirmed cases were recorded in Kano.
It said other states with cases are Yobe (640), Katsina (213), Borno (95), Kaduna (16), Jigawa (14), Bauchi (8), Lagos (8), FCT (5), Gombe (5), Osun (3), Sokoto (3), Niger (2), Cross River (1), Enugu (1), Imo (1), Nasarawa (1) and Zamfara (1).
It said the majority (73.6%) of the confirmed cases occurred among children aged 1 – 14 years with those aged 5-14 years bearing most of the brunt of the disease.
“So far, a total of 453 deaths have occurred in confirmed cases giving a case fatality rate (CFR) of 6.3%,” the statement said.
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