70% Diphtheria cases in Nigeria affect children between 2 and 14  — NCDC

THE Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr Ifedayo Adetifa, has said over 70 percent of confirmed diphtheria cases in Nigeria were in people aged two to 14 years and a consequence of historical poor vaccination coverage.

In addition, he said over 82 percent of the confirmed diphtheria cases are unvaccinated, although cases of infection had been in adults over 40 years.

Adetifa made the disclosure at the launch of the Media Epidemiology, Infodemiology and Social and Behaviour Change/Risk Communication (EIS) fellowship, to help guide media professionals on strengthening its capacity through effective science communication and reporting.

The hybrid launch in Abuja was by Breakthrough Action Nigeria, in collaboration with NCDC and African Field Epidemiology Network (AFENET).

The NCDC boss said there have been multiple outbreaks across the country since December 2022 and more cases are expected to occur due to historical gaps in vaccination coverage.

“The underlying or predisposing factor is all about people not taking up vaccines. Vaccines are routinely available on the recommended National Primary Health Care Development Agency child immunisation schedule. The vaccines are a highly effective tool; deaths from diphtheria are preventable.

“We have had over 800 cases, more than 70 percent of the cases are occurring in people aged two to 14 years. Over 82 percent of the confirmed cases are unvaccinated. Now, for people who are two to 14 years old, what this means is that they did not make use of the vaccination opportunities.

“According to our vaccination schedule, one is to receive three doses of DPT at six, 10 and 14 weeks. Then you are protected against diphtheria. We are unfortunately seeing the consequences of historical poor vaccination coverage.

“Children under age two now have higher vaccination coverage, so these days, they are less affected by the ongoing outbreak. We have said two to 14 years, but there are even older people, above 40 years that are affected. This shows why poor vaccination coverage is the whole story about the current diphtheria outbreak,” he said.

Dr Adetifa stated that the EIS fellowship is to empower the media to provide the right public health information in future outbreak of diseases and to help ensure appropriate behavioural change in Nigerians, irrespective of their social and economic standing.

“it is intended to be a premier capacity building programme and it is expected that it will develop the knowledge and skills of the network of journalists working in public health,” he added.

Dr Olayinka Umar-Farouk, representative of BA-Nigeria, said COVID-19 pandemic, like many health events before it, has revealed the importance of promoting strong and healthy information ecosystems to improve health literacy.

Umar-Farouk, therefore, said bridging the gap between public health officials and the media will contribute to combating outbreaks and ultimately save more lives.