Eko Hot Blog reports that federal government has urged the 19 states affected by spread of diphtheria to reintroduce the use of facemasks.
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This move was made as the bacterial infection, diphtheria spreads further across the country.
Executive director of the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Faisal Shuaib, advised the use of facemask yesterday during a press briefing in Abuja about Diphtheria Outbreak Response.
According to Shuaib, “Diphtheria is an airborne disease. Like COVID-19, we can reduce air contact with the bacteria by adopting non-pharmaceutical interventions such as the use of facemasks, handwashing and physical distancing from affected persons.
“Accordingly, I would like to call on governors of affected states to institute face covering requirements such as facemasks in public gatherings. By doing so, we can add another intervention to slow the progress of the outbreak.”
However, he cautioned the stigmatisation against people sick with the disease.
Shuaib said six states of the federation are bearing the brunt of the outbreak, accounting for a staggering 97 percent of all reported cases.
The states affected include Kano, Yobe, Katsina, Borno, Kaduna, and Bauchi, while Kano alone carries the weight of over 84 percent of the cases, making it the epicentre of this outbreak, said Shuaib
He said young persons aged one to 14 years are more prone to infection with over 73 percent record of the cases .
“Alarmingly, only about 18 percent of those affected had received any vaccinations,” said Shuaib.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), in a Monday report, said there had been 13,204 reported suspected cases out of which 8,406 were confirmed cases from 114 local government areas in 19 states including the FCT.
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The director-general of NCDC, Dr Adetifa Ifedayo also gave breakdown of affected states: Kano – 7,188 (86%), Yobe – 775, Katsina – 232, Borno – 118, Jigawa -23, Bauchi -20, Kaduna – 17, Lagos – 8, FCT – 6, Gombe – 5, Osun – 3, Sokoto – 3, Niger – 2, Cross River – 1, Enugu – 1, Imo – 1, Nasarawa – 1, Zamfara – 1, Kebbi -1.
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