The World Health Organisation (WHO) has urged the Federal Government to increase routine diphtheria vaccination to control the outbreak of the highly contagious bacterial disease.
This call was made by Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, the WHO Director-General, during an online media conference on Wednesday, News Agency of Nigeria reported.
Tedros revealed that Nigeria was experiencing a severe outbreak of diphtheria with over 9000 suspected cases reported across 17 states, resulting in 307 deaths.
He disclosed that “this is the second wave of diphtheria this year”.
The WHO Director-General revealed that diphtheria is a highly bacterial disease which can be fatal in five to ten per cent of cases, with a higher mortality rate in young children.
Tedros, however, revealed that with routine vaccination the disease is preventable.
WHO’s partnership with FG to fight diphtheria outbreak in Nigeria
Tedros revealed that the World Health Organization was supporting the Federal Government in fighting the diphtheria outbreak in Nigeria, particularly to improve vaccination, surveillance, case management and risk communication.
The WHO boss said that they “are also working with partners to increase access to vaccines and antitoxin”.
He highlighted the importance of increased routine vaccination to nip the outbreak in the bud.
- In his words, “This outbreak and others highlight the need to increase routine vaccination to stop these outbreaks before they start.”
What the diphtheria disease is
Diphtheria is an acute and highly contagious bacterial disease that causes inflammation of the mucous membranes and the formation of a false membrane in the throat. This, in turn, hinders breathing and swallowing.
This disease is potentially fatal as the bacterial toxin in the blood could cause heart and nerve damage, with high mortality in young children.
Diphtheria is a vaccination-preventable disease. The WHO reports that the rarity of the disease in developed countries of the world is due to immunization.