United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has said that the Diphtheria outbreak has claimed 122 lives in Nigeria, with a case fatality rate (CFR) of 8.7%.
According to statement issued by UNICEF Nigeria Country Representative, Dr. Cristian Munduate, a copy of which was made available to journalists in Bauchi State on Friday, she said that the outbreak has affected children in 27 States, stating that as of July 2023, 3,850 suspected cases were reported with 1,387 confirmed as diphtheria.
“The outbreak has affected mainly Kano, Yobe, Katsina, Lagos, FCT, Sokoto, and Zamfara, which account for 98.0% of the suspected cases while most confirmed cases, approximately 71.5%, have occurred among children aged 2 – 14 years.”
According to her, it was heartbreaking to note that only 22% of the confirmed cases received their routine childhood immunization vaccinations with 78% unreached.
She said: “Most of these affected children, especially those who unfortunately passed away, had not…
Source: Leadership Newspaper