NCDC confirms outbreak of diphtheria patient dies
Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has raised the alert level on outbreak of the diphtheria. The enhanced consciousness came after a four-year-old patient died in Abuja.
The agency warned that that the disease if highly contagious and that the bacteria affects the throat and nose, and can cause breathing difficulties.
Nearly 800 cases of the disease have been confirmed in the country as of June 30, the NCDC said in a statement. Most of the patients are children aged between 2 and 14 years, it added.
Head of the NCDC, Ifedayo Adetifa, declared in the statement that a total of 80 deaths have been recorded among all confirmed cases.
He noted that low vaccination coverage has fueled the spread of the disease in Nigeria despite the availability of a safe and cost-effective vaccine in the country. He added that more than 80% of those infected with the disease in Nigeria were yet to be vaccinated.
Diptheria, although potentially fatal, is preventable through routine childhood vaccines.
Diphtheria can be spread from person to person through direct contact or air droplets, according to the World Health Organization.
All age groups are prone to the disease, the health body notes, but children who are not vaccinated are at a higher risk of getting infected, it added.
Nigeria has had previous outbreaks of diphtheria but infections were minimal compared to the recent outbreak.
In 2011, 98 cases of the disease were reported in northeastern Borno State.
