25 people have died in one state due to a confirmed diphtheria outbreak in Nigeria. In one of the hardest-hit areas in the country’s north, the 25 people who have already passed away are mostly youngsters, according to Nigerian health authorities, who confirmed an epidemic of diphtheria on Friday.
It is unknown how many deaths and confirmed cases there have been overall. According to a statement from D.r. Ifedayo Adetifa, the agency’s head, the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has launched an emergency response to the outbreak and is keeping an eye on the situation in four of the nation’s 36 states.
According to Dr. Aminu Tsanyawa, the health commissioner for Kano state, the state has documented more than 70 suspected cases and 25 fatalities associated with the bacterial infection.
Diphtheria results in paralysis, heart failure, and breathing problems. The most vulnerable individuals lack vaccinations, reside in densely populated locations, or have inadequate hygienic conditions.
Although the ability to diagnose the illness and cure patients is constrained in many isolated locations, Nigeria hasn’t experienced a diphtheria outbreak of this size in recent memory.
The routine immunization against the infection had decreased in Nigeria, UNICEF, the children’s office of the United Nations, warned in 2020, in part because of the COVID-19 epidemic.
Dr. Abdullahi Kauran-Mata, the state’s top epidemiologist, claims that the outbreak among kids in a Kano state hospital was first reported to the authorities in late December.
“Immediately we got the information, we quickly mobilized our team through the ministry of health, and the investigation started,” Kauran-Mata said.