Katsina Secures 650,000 Vaccines As Diphtheria Cases Top 1000

The Katsina State Government has secured an additional 650,000 doses of diphtheria-containing vaccines as the state intensifies efforts to contain an outbreak that has recorded more than 1,000 suspected cases and deaths estimated at five per cent of reported cases.

The acting executive secretary of the Katsina State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr Shima’u Kabir, disclosed this on Sunday during a press briefing on the state’s response to the outbreak.

She said suspected cases had been recorded in 29 Local Government Areas (LGAs), with Funtua having the highest burden.

Other highly affected areas, she said, included Bakori, Kankia, Katsina, Mani and Daura LGAs.

Shima’u described the outbreak as a serious concern to the state government but assured residents that measures had been intensified to bring the situation under control.

She said the response was being coordinated by the State Emergency Preparedness and Rapid Response Team and the Katsina State Primary Health Care Development Agency, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), UNICEF, WHO and other development partners.

According to her, the response team was operating under the Incident Management System, with regular coordination meetings, active surveillance, contact tracing, investigation of suspected cases and continuous analysis of epidemiological data.

She said reactive vaccination began on August 25 in five high-risk LGAs that include  Bakori, Charanchi, Funtua, Mani and Kankia with support from the NPHCDA and logistics provided by UNICEF.

“By day three of the exercise, 67,670 eligible persons had received the Td vaccine, while 24,103 children had received the pentavalent vaccine across the five implementing LGAs,” she said.

Shima’u attributed the turnout to house-to-house mobilisation and the involvement of traditional rulers, community leaders, other stakeholders and health workers.

To strengthen treatment and reduce pressure on existing facilities, she said the government had established three additional isolation centres.

The centres are located at MCHC Kanti in Daura, General Hospital Funtua and General Amadi Rimi Orthopaedic Hospital, where an isolation centre was opened on Friday.

She added that the government was supplying essential drugs, medical consumables and infection prevention and control materials to support the NCDC isolation centre at the Federal Teaching Hospital Katsina.

Case-management drugs, she said, were also being pre-positioned in affected communities, while health workers were receiving additional training in diphtheria surveillance and treatment.

The acting executive secretary, however, identified low vaccination uptake and delayed presentation of suspected cases at health facilities as major challenges to containing the outbreak.

She also cited Katsina’s porous international border with Niger Republic as a challenge requiring sustained surveillance and coordinated intervention.

Shima’u urged parents and caregivers to ensure that children receive all recommended vaccines, describing vaccination as one of the most effective ways of preventing diphtheria.

She also advised residents to seek immediate medical attention when they notice symptoms including sore throat, fever, difficulty swallowing or breathing, neck swelling, or a thick greyish or whitish membrane in the throat, tonsils or nose.

“Please do not wait until the condition becomes severe and do not attempt to manage a suspected case at home,” she warned.

She said early presentation could save lives and reduce transmission within households and communities.

Shima’u also appealed to residents to cooperate with vaccination teams, surveillance officers and other health workers involved in the response.

She commended the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, NPHCDA, NCDC, UNICEF, WHO, traditional and religious leaders, local government authorities, Ward Development Committees, community mobilisers, frontline health workers and vaccination teams for supporting the response.

She assured residents that the state government would continue to provide resources to contain the outbreak, strengthen surveillance and case management, improve routine immunisation coverage and protect children against vaccine-preventable diseases.

“Diphtheria is preventable, vaccinations save lives, and early detection and prompt treatment save lives,” she said.