NCDC: Confirmed  Diphtheria Cases in Nigeria Hits 9,478

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has said  the total number of confirmed cases of diphtheria in country as at October 19, 2023 was  9,478.
The Centre said  children between the ages of 1-14 recorded the highest number of diphtheria infections – 6,777 which was 71.5 percent.
Speaking at a media briefing by the Taskforce  on diphtheria surveillance in Abuja, the Director General of NCDC, Dr. Ifedayo Adetiba, said:
As of today, the 19th of October 2023, there have been 15,060 reported suspected cases

out of which 9,478 were confirmed cases from 137 LGAs in 20 States including the FCT.”
He gave the breakdown of the disease spread  by states as follows: Kano – 7,747 (81.7%), Yobe – 841, Bauchi – 369, Katsina – 275, Borno – 164, Jigawa -24, Kaduna – 18, Lagos – 8, Zamfara -7, FCT – 7, Lagos – 6, Gombe – 5, Sokoto – 4, Osun – 3, Niger – 2, Cross River, Enugu, Imo, Nasarawa, Kebbi, Taraba – 1 each
The DG said that out f the 9,478 confirmed cases, 6,777 (71.5 percent) were aged 1-14 years, Infants: – 1 percent 1-4 years: 14.1 percent , 5-9 years: 30.6 percent 10-14 years:

26.8 percent, Adults – 20 years: 16 percent”.  Adetiba said that finalisation of the development of the National Diphtheria Laboratory guidelines is underway.
According to him, preparations for the sequencing of diphtheria isolates are also being finalised.
With regard to risk communication and community engagement, Adetiba said that
NCDC will continue to develop and disseminate public health advisories on diphtheria.
“With the support of the World Bank, Breakthrough Action Nigeria and other partners we have been able to design, validate and distribute diphtheria social behavioural change (SBC) materials to all states.

“We are currently airing diphtheria jingles and PSA on Radio Nigeria’s 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. national network news. “We continue to engage with state officials on the adaptation of diphtheria SBC materials (e-posters, flyers and jingles) to their local languages.
“We embark on regular media engagement such as this to proactively inform the public on raising awareness and addressing misconceptions about the diphtheria outbreak.

School heads on diphtheria prevention and control measures in communities have been engaged in Kano state.
“Through the state governments, the primary and secondary school authorities, community and religious leaders in high-burden states have been engaged in diphtheria prevention and control measures,’ he said.
The NCDC DG further said NCDC continue to conduct social listening on social media channels to address misinformation and disinformation on diphtheria.
Inaddition, Adetiba said  the Centre has developed and disseminated Standard Operating Procedures for Diphtheria Antitoxin (DAT) use in health facilities and treatment centres.

” With support from partners and in collaboration with the State Ministry of Health, we have established Diphtheria Treatment Centres/Wards in affected States.

“For the first time in any outbreak, the government has made DAT and now IV erythromycin available using its resources through the REDISSE funding and also supported by partners including WHO and MSF. These have resulted in a significant reduction in case fatality rate from about 40 percent during the earlier part of the outbreak when access to DAT was highly limited to about 6 percent now”