Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: https://www.afro.who.int/news/building-momentum-against-diphtheria-outbreak-nigeria
Building momentum against diphtheria outbreak in Nigeria
31 October 2023
Abuja ‒ When his seven-year-old brother Jubrin was diagnosed with diphtheria in July 2023, Aminu Dayyabu Alharini had never heard of the disease, the latest outbreak of which has claimed more than 500 lives in Nigeria.
Following the diagnosis, Jubrin was immediately transferred from the health facility near their home in Alharini settlement, in Kano State, Nigeria, to a specialist hospital after he suddenly developed a high fever following two days of complaining of a sore throat.
Cumulatively from 9 May 2022 to 25 October 2023, 15 569 suspected (9772 confirmed) diphtheria cases that have been reported across Nigeria, 547 of whom have died. Confirmed cases have been recorded in 19 states, with the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Kano, Yobe and Bauchi states the worst affected.
Kano state, where Jubrin lives, bears the highest burden of the disease, with 8022 confirmed cases. Diphtheria, a vaccine-preventable bacterial infection, is highly contagious and can lead to severe respiratory complications due to the formation of a greyish membrane in the throat. Without treatment, it obstructs breathing and can result in death...
Building momentum against diphtheria outbreak in Nigeria
31 October 2023
Abuja ‒ When his seven-year-old brother Jubrin was diagnosed with diphtheria in July 2023, Aminu Dayyabu Alharini had never heard of the disease, the latest outbreak of which has claimed more than 500 lives in Nigeria.
Following the diagnosis, Jubrin was immediately transferred from the health facility near their home in Alharini settlement, in Kano State, Nigeria, to a specialist hospital after he suddenly developed a high fever following two days of complaining of a sore throat.
Cumulatively from 9 May 2022 to 25 October 2023, 15 569 suspected (9772 confirmed) diphtheria cases that have been reported across Nigeria, 547 of whom have died. Confirmed cases have been recorded in 19 states, with the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Kano, Yobe and Bauchi states the worst affected.
Kano state, where Jubrin lives, bears the highest burden of the disease, with 8022 confirmed cases. Diphtheria, a vaccine-preventable bacterial infection, is highly contagious and can lead to severe respiratory complications due to the formation of a greyish membrane in the throat. Without treatment, it obstructs breathing and can result in death...