NCDC records six confirmed diphtheria cases in four weeks

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says six more confirmed cases of diphtheria have been recorded in Nigeria as of January 26, 2025.

Diphtheria is a bacterial infection caused by the corynebacterium species that affect the nose, throat, and sometimes, skin of an individual.

Some symptoms include fever, runny nose, sore throat, cough, red eyes, neck swelling, and difficulty in breathing.

According to the agency’s diphtheria situation report, a total of eight suspected cases were recorded across five LGAs in two states.

The NCDC said of the eight suspected cases reported, six were confirmed cases and two were unknown.

The agency added that deaths were not recorded among the confirmed cases.

According to the report, a total of 41,336 suspected cases were reported in 37 states across 350 LGAs from week 19 in 2022 to week 4, 2024.

Kano (23,784), Yobe (5302), Katsina (3708), Bauchi (3066), Borno (2902), Kaduna (777) & Jigawa (364) accounted for 96.5 percent of suspected cases reported.

“Of the 41,336 suspected cases reported, 24,846 (60.1%) were confirmed cases (394 lab confirmed; 203 epid linked; 24,249 clinically compatible), 7,769 (18.8%) were discarded, 3,546 (8.6%) are pending classification & 5,175 (12.5%) were unknown,” the report reads.

“The confirmed cases were distributed across 182 LGAs in 26 states.

“Kano (17,770), Bauchi (2,334), Yobe (2,380), Katsina (1,088), Borno (1,036) & Jigawa (53), Plateau (31) & Kaduna (44) accounted for 99.4 of confirmed cases reported.

“Majority [15,845 (63.9%)] of the confirmed cases were among children aged 1 – 14 years.

“Only 4,963 (20.0%) out of the 24,846 confirmed cases were fully vaccinated with a diphtheria toxoid-containing vaccine.”

The NCDC said a total of 1,262 deaths were recorded among confirmed cases.