NCDC steps up vaccination as diphtheria cases rise in Kano

The Nigeria Centre for Diseases Control (NCDC) has said that it has intensified vaccination of people in the communities affected by the diphtheria outbreak and other parts of Kano State where the index case started.

The outbreak has cut across 16 local government areas of the state with at least 506 suspected cases recorded.

Addressing newsmen in Kano shortly after a meeting with the state health team, the Director General of the NCDC, Dr Ifedayo Adefita, said adequate measures were in place to contain the epidemic and that they had delivered 300 out of 1,000 valves of vaccines received in the country to Kano State.

He said while they awaited more 1,000 valves of the vaccine, the commission had shifted attention to vaccinating people within the age range that were vulnerable to the disease.

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Earlier in his presentation, the state epidemiologist, Dr Abdullahi Kauranmata, said out of the 506 suspected cases, 11 were laboratory confirmed while 214 were clinically compatible cases.

“Out of these suspected cases, we have recorded six deaths from the confirmed cases while 98 were discarded. We also recorded 167 pending classification cases while 16 were unknown,” he said.