There is urgent need for mass vaccination against the disease
The federal government disclosure that Diphtheria has killed 453 persons, infected 7,202, and spread to 18 states across the country, is rather disturbing. A joint statement from the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) stated last week of about 11,590 suspected cases of the disease in 105 local government areas, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). This is another public health emergency that is preventable. And it is a shame that Nigerians are burdened with it, especially at this period.
Diphtheria is a serious and highly contagious bacterial infection previously known to be endemic only in the Caribbean and Spanish countries. It affects the throat and nose and can lead to difficulty in breathing, heart rhythm problems, lungs, kidney issues, and ultimately death. Like many other African countries that do not take pre-emptive measures against looming diseases, Nigeria’s poor vaccination for Diphtheria, Pertussis and Tetanus (DPT) has become the finger-bed for the incessant outbreaks of the disease in the country since 2011.
A renowned epidemiologist and Professor of Virology, Oyewale Tomori said recently that only 60 per cent of Nigerians have so far been vaccinated against diphtheria, going by official figures. But he also added that many of those registered to have been vaccinated could be only on paper as the possibility of having mopped up the figures were high. Conservatively, according to Tomori, the number of unvaccinated people in our country could be as high as 87 million. Unfortunately, most of the victims of this disease are children below five years whose immunity are unable to withstand the associated illnesses for diphtheria.
The chief factors for the diphtheria scourge are low vaccine coverage, insufficient storage and transportation, inadequate disease and laboratory surveillance. Poor response system, and the citizens’ low awareness on vaccination against diphtheria are other factors putting the entire country at risk. The greater danger is that health authorities in Nigeria are not doing enough to tackle the problem. Yet, evidence has shown that the disease has the potential to snowball into a widespread outbreak with the capacity to kill hundreds of thousands of people and belabour the fragile health system just like was the case with COVID-19.
To halt the current spread of the disease and prevent future outbreaks in the country, government at all levels must take urgent coordinated steps, including mass vaccination of Nigerians. Relevant authorities must also prioritise treatment for infected persons, as well as set up mass awareness programmes on the need for Nigerians to embrace the vaccines and immunisation process. Infected persons should be hospitalised as against the current situation in which most persons are given medications while they remain in their homes. Health facilities, especially primary health centres, should be equipped enough to manage cases where secondary and tertiary health facilities are not available. Contact tracing should commence while affected persons should be isolated, travel advisory should be publicised especially against states with high infection, among other solutions.
To prevent future outbreaks of the disease, there must be collaboration between education and health authorities to ensure that vaccination against DPT becomes requirement for primary and school admissions or for continuous learning. They should also borrow a leaf from many countries free from diphtheria that require people already vaccinated against the disease to take booster shots after being vaccinated for a considerable number of years.
As late in the day as it may seem, government at all levels should isolate infected persons and commence mass vaccination. Diphtheria outbreak is a threat to Nigeria’s health security.