Authorities are controlling massive diphtheria outbreaks in several West African countries, including Nigeria, where a senior health official said that millions of people are receiving vaccinations to close major gaps in immunity against the disease.
There have been at least 573 fatalities out of 11,640 cases of the disease in Nigeria since the current outbreak started in December 2022. Officials think the death toll could be significantly higher in states where they are unable to identify many cases, even though it is currently declining as a result of treatment efforts.
In Niger 37 people had died out of the 865 cases as of October, while Guinea has reported 58 deaths out of 497 since its outbreak started in June.
According to Ifedayo Adetifa, the director of the Nigeria Center for Disease Control, “this is the largest outbreak that we have had as far as I am aware of in history.”
The French medical organization Doctors Without Borders, or MSF, said in a statement on Tuesday that a historically large vaccination gap has been a major contributing factor to the high rate of infection in the region.
In Nigeria, only 42% of children under 15 years old are fully protected from diphtheria, according to a government survey, while Guinea has a 47% immunization rate both far below the 80–85% rate recommended by the World Health Organization to maintain community protection.
The situation in the affected countries has been exacerbated by global shortages of diphtheria vaccine as demand has increased to respond to outbreaks, according to MSF.
According to Adetifa, the Nigeria CDC director, the Nigerian government is increasing vaccination for targeted populations while assisting states in improving their capacity to detect and manage cases.
However, several states continue to struggle, including Kano, which accounts for more than 75% of cases in Nigeria but has only two diphtheria treatment centers, according to the state’s top health official, Abubakar Labaran Yusuf.
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