Diphtheria: Four year-old dies as FCTA confirms outbreak

The Federal Capital Territory Administration FCTA has confirmed the outbreak of diphtheria, a deadly disease, which has now claimed the life of a four year old boy out of five reported cases. 

The FCT Director, Public Health Department, Dr. Sadiq Abdulrahman, announced the outbreak, at a news conference on Monday, in Abuja, saying that the outbreaks earlier recorded in Lagos, Ondo, and Kano states in January, had triggered a national response by the Nigeria Centre for Disease and Control.

He said that information available to the department, indicated that the disease was imported from neighbouring Niger state. 

“Two weeks ago, we got information from a community within the FCT of eight cases and that made our team to pick some samples.

“The samples were taken to the National Reference Laboratory, Gaduwa, and the NCDC, and one of the suspected cases came out positive,” he said.

The Director further told newsmen that the Department is collaborating with neighbouring states to checkmate further spread of the disease from contiguous states through border surveillance.

Also, the Executive Secretary, Primary Health Care Board, Ishaq Vatsa said diphtheria is caused by bacteria which includes fever, running nose, difficulty in breathing and can be transmitted through sneezing, droplets, coughing and contact with contaminated persons. He said unvaccinated people who live in crowded and unhygienic environments were at high risk of contracting the disease.

Vatsa advised residents to visit the over 400 vaccine outlets across the territory to get vaccinated against the disease. He also  urged residents to ensure that their children were fully vaccinated, in line with the National Childhood Immunization Schedule.

“To reduce the risk of contracting the disease, FCT residents are hereby advised to ensure that their children are fully vaccinated with three doses of the pentavalent vaccine. This is recommended in the National Childhood Immunisation Schedule,” he said.