The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has said that it recorded 1,534 confirmed cases and 137 deaths from diphtheria between May 2022 and July this year.
According to reports of diphtheria released on Tuesday, the organisation said the confirmed cases were recorded across 11 states.
It said Kano (3,233), Yobe (477), Katsina (132), Kaduna (101), Bauchi (54), Federal Capital Territory (41) and Lagos (30) accounted for 97.8% of the suspected cases.
The report further confirmed that a total of 4,160 suspected cases have been reported from 27 states across 139 local government areas in the country.
According to the report, majority (66.4%) of the confirmed cases occurred in children aged 1 – 14 years, while out of the 1,534 confirmed cases reported, 1,257 (81.9%) were not fully vaccinated against diphtheria.
According to the report, in the month of July this year alone, a total of 1,506 suspected cases were reported from 59 local government areas in 11 states across the country.
It said of the 1,506 suspected cases reported, 579 (38.5%) were confirmed (29 lab confirmed; While a total of 39 deaths were recorded among all confirmed cases.
