HALTING DIPHTHERIA OUTBREAK
Health authorities could do more to contain the disease
Earlier this month, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) confirmed the outbreak of diphtheria in Abuja after the death of a four-year-old patient. This represents the second outbreak of the disease in the country this year after the federal government had confirmed some cases in January. So far, about 80 lives have been lost to the disease while almost 800 persons have been confirmed infected. Unfortunately, this is another public health emergency that is preventable. And it is a shame that Nigerians are burdened with it, especially at this period.
Diphtheria is a serious and highly contagious bacterial infection previously known to be endemic only in the Caribbean and Spanish countries. It affects the throat and nose and can lead to difficulty in breathing, heart rhythm problems, lungs, kidney issues, and ultimately death. Like many other African countries that do not take pre-emptive measures against looming diseases, Nigeria’s poor vaccination for Diphtheria, Pertussis and Tetanus (DPT) has become the finger-bed for the incessant outbreaks of the disease in the country since 2011.
A renowned epidemiologist and Professor of Virology, Oyewale Tomori said recently that only 60 per cent of Nigerians have so far been vaccinated against diphtheria, going by official figures. But he also added that many of those registered to have been vaccinated could be only on paper. Conservatively, according to Tomori, the number of unvaccinated people in our country could be as high as 87 million. Unfortunately, most of the victims of this disease are children below five years whose immunity are unable to withstand the associated illnesses for diphtheria.
The chief factors for the diphtheria challenge are low vaccine coverage, insufficient storage and transportation, inadequate disease and laboratory surveillance. Poor response system, and the citizens’ low awareness on vaccination against diphtheria are other factors putting the entire country at risk. The greater danger is that health authorities in Nigeria are not doing enough to tackle the problem. Yet, evidence has shown that the disease has the potential to snowball into a widespread outbreak with the capacity to kill hundreds of thousands of people and belabour the fragile health system just like was the case with COVID-19.
To halt the current spread of the disease and prevent future outbreaks in the country, government at all levels must take some coordinated urgent steps, including mass vaccination of Nigerians. Relevant authorities must also prioritise treatment for infected persons, as well as set up mass awareness programmes on the need for Nigerians to embrace the vaccines and immunisation process. Infected persons should be hospitalised as against the current situation in which most persons are given medications while they remain in their homes. Health facilities, especially primary health centres, should be equipped enough to manage cases where secondary and tertiary health facilities are not available. Contact tracing should urgently commence while affected persons should be isolated, travel advisory should be publicised especially against states with high infection, among other solutions.
To prevent future outbreaks of the disease, there must be collaboration between education and health authorities to ensure that vaccination against DPT becomes requirement for primary and school admissions or for continuous learning. They should also borrow a leaf from many countries free from diphtheria that require people already vaccinated against the disease to take booster shots after being vaccinated for a considerable number of years.
As late in the day as it may seem, government at all levels should isolate infected persons and commence mass vaccination. Diphtheria outbreak is a threat to Nigeria’s health security. Everything should be done to avert it.
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Most of the victims of the disease are children below five years whose immunity are unable to withstand the associated illnesses for diphtheria
