Diphtheria: Nigeria Records 80 Deaths In Six Months From 798 Cases- NCDC

By Fabour Nwankwo

The Nigeria Center for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has confirms that a total of 798 confirmed diphtheria cases with 80 deaths have been recorded across eight states including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) since the beginning of this year, thegazellenews.com reports.

 NCDC Director General, Dr Ifedayo Adetifa, confirmed this in a statement issued on Thursday, 6 July, 202, explaining that the cases were recorded across 33 Local Government Areas of t he affected states.

Adetifa disclosed that most of the cases were recorded in Kano, Lagos, Yobe, Katsina, Cross River, Kaduna, and Osun.

The majority (71.7%) of the 798 confirmed cases occurred among children aged 2 – 14 years. So far, a total of 80 deaths have been recorded among all confirmed cases representing a case fatality rate of 10.0%,”Adetifa said, adding that the health agency was also aware of the death last month of a four-year-old with diphtheria in the FCT, Abuja.

“As of 3rd of July 2023, only 1 confirmed case has been detected, with 7 suspected cases testing negative while others are awaiting laboratory results. No other death was recorded apart from the laboratory-confirmed case,” he added.

NCDC said it has since December 2022 been reporting multiple diphtheria outbreaks in different states across the country.

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 immunization schedule.