From Abubakar Abdullahi, Lafia
The Nasarawa State Ministry of Health has confirmed an ongoing diphtheria outbreak in the state with 15 confirmed cases, majority of them in Keffi Local Government Area
This was disclosed by the Director of Public Health, Nasarawa State Ministry of Health, Dr Attah Peter, during an interview on Tuesday in Lafia, the state capital.
Dr Attah said the confirmed cases cut across 3 LGAs, with ages ranging from 2 months to 11 years.
“At the moment, we have recorded and confirmed cases of 15 The age group ranges between 2 months to 11 years,” he said.
“Most of the cases are in Keffi Out of the 15, one case is from Wamba, and then three from Lafia. So the remaining 11 are all from Keffi.”
According to him, most of the affected children were not immunized, noting that failure by parents and caregivers to present children for routine immunization is responsible for the outbreak
“You begin to wonder why an 11-year-old is coming down with diphtheria at this age 11 years ago, that caregiver should have taken this child for vaccination. That was not done, and so the child, even at this age, is still vulnerable,” Dr. Attah explained.
He added that similar cases have been recorded in other states like Kano, where even adults up to 50 years have been affected due to lack of vaccination
The Director said unlike last year when the state recorded some fatalities, no death has been recorded this year due to early detection and treatment
“For all the cases that actually presented themselves in the facility, none we’ve not recorded any death Maybe because of the clinician’s high index of suspicion and then the commencement of treatment early enough,” he said.
He noted that vaccines and treatment had been deployed to FMC Keffi, Federal University Teaching Hospital Lafia, and other facilities to manage cases
Dr Attah urged parents and caregivers to take advantage of the free routine immunization available at all Primary Healthcare Centers across the state.
“The routine immunization is free It’s just for you to make effort to take this child to where these vaccines are available. They are readily accessible to almost every primary healthcare facility,” he said.
He explained that children are expected to receive vaccines from birth up to 18 months, including booster doses He also advised that girls aged 9 to 11 years should receive the HPV vaccine to prevent cervical cancer.
Diphtheria is a highly contagious bacterial infection that affects the throat and can cause difficulty in breathing, heart failure, and death if not treated early