Nigeria recorded a total of 836 confirmed cases and 80 deaths from diphtheria between May and June 2023.
According to the diphtheria situation report released Saturday by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), the confirmed cases were recorded across 33 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in seven states and the FCT.
Within the period under review, NCDC stated, a total of 2,455 suspected cases were reported from 24 states. It added that 71.5 per cent of the confirmed cases occurred among children aged 2 – 14 years.
Despite diphtheria being a vaccine-preventable disease, NCDC noted that only 181 (21.7 per cent) out of 836 confirmed cases were fully vaccinated with a “diphtheria toxin-containing vaccine.”
Breakdown of cases
According to the situation report, Kano state accounted for 819 confirmed cases out of the total 836 cases.
Lagos State came second on the chart with eight cases, followed by Yobe and Katsina states with three and two cases respectively.
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