Diphtheria Killed 122 In Nigeria – UNICEF

United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has said that the Diphtheria outbreak has claimed 122 lives in Nigeria, with a case fatality rate (CFR) of 8.7%.

According to statement issued by UNICEF Nigeria Country Representative, Dr. Cristian Munduate, a copy of which was made available to journalists in Bauchi State on Friday, she said that the outbreak has affected children in 27 States, stating that as of July 2023, 3,850 suspected cases were reported with 1,387 confirmed as diphtheria.

“The outbreak has affected mainly Kano, Yobe, Katsina, Lagos, FCT, Sokoto, and Zamfara, which account for 98.0% of the suspected cases while most confirmed cases, approximately 71.5%, have occurred among children aged 2 – 14 years.”

According to her, it was heartbreaking to note that only 22% of the confirmed cases received their routine childhood immunization vaccinations with 78% unreached.

She said: “Most of these affected children, especially those who unfortunately passed away, had not received a single dose of the vaccine. The need to reach the unreached has never been more critical.”

The UNICEF Chief further said in response to the outbreak, UNICEF was closely collaborating with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), the affected States and the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), providing technical support to plan and operationalise the response as the Fund’s commitment extends to several key interventions.

“The interventions include: Planning, implementing, and funding risk communication and community engagement activities and transporting vaccines and related equipment to the affected states and strengthening routine immunization.

“Training health workers and volunteers for service delivery, risk communication, and community engagement; Supervising outbreak response activities; Procuring and supplying face masks, hand sanitizers, and antibiotics to treat diphtheria and Supplying Laboratory consumables and biosafety cabinets for testing of suspected cases at the NCDC.”

She emphasised the pressing need to reach children who had missed out on their vaccines due to the COVID-19 lockdown.

She added that, “Many children did not receive their vaccines during the COVID-19 lockdown. We now urgently need to catch up. These ‘zero-dose’ children, those who haven’t received a single dose of vaccine, are a primary concern.”

UNICEF Nigeria urged all parents and guardians to ensure their children receive routine immunizations to protect them from preventable diseases like diphtheria.

It promised to continue to intensify efforts to address the ongoing outbreak and work alongside the government to achieve a healthier and safer future for every Nigerian child.