The Federal Government have been advised to increase routine diphtheria vaccination to control the outbreak of the highly contagious bacterial disease.
This call was made by the WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, during an online media conference yesterday.
Tedros revealed that Nigeria was experiencing a severe outbreak of diphtheria with over 9000 suspected cases reported across 17 states, resulting in 307 deaths, disclosing 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.
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Tedros, however, revealed that with routine vaccination the disease is preventable.
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.
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