News Investigators/ The Katsina State Government says it has vaccinated 67,670 eligible persons against diphtheria and secured 650,000 additional vaccine doses to contain an outbreak reported in 29 local government areas.
Shaimau Abba, Executive Secretary of the Katsina State Primary Health Care Development Agency (KSPHCDA), disclosed this at a press briefing on Sunday in Katsina.
Mrs Abba said that as of Epidemiological Week 35, ending Aug. 28, suspected cases of the disease had been reported across 29 of the state’s 34 local government areas.
She identified Funtua as the most affected local government area, followed by Kankia, Bakori, Katsina, Mashi and Daura.
According to her, the outbreak is a serious public health concern, however, the government has activated necessary measures to prevent further transmission and reduce severe illness and deaths.
She described diphtheria as a serious but preventable infectious disease that mainly affected the respiratory system and could spread from person to person, particularly in communities with low vaccination coverage.
“Early detection, immediate treatment, vaccination and strict infection-prevention measures remain critical to controlling the disease,” Abba said.
She said that the response was being coordinated under the leadership of Gov. Dikko Radda, through the State Emergency Preparedness and Rapid Response Team and KSPHCDA.
The executive secretary said that the response involved the State Ministry of Health, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) and development partners.
She said that the emergency preparedness and response structure remained fully activated under the Incident Management System, with surveillance and response activities continuing across affected communities.
Abba said that the measures included intensified disease surveillance, contact tracing; line-listing of suspected cases; regular review of outbreak data, and provision of chemoprophylaxis to identified contacts.
According to her, a reactive vaccination campaign commenced on Aug. 25, targeting 15 high-risk wards across Bakori; Charanchi; Funtua; Mashi and Kankia Local Government Areas.
“The campaign is being implemented in partnership with NPHCDA, with logistical support from UNICEF.
“Within the first three days of the exercise, 67,670 eligible persons received Td vaccines, while 24,103 children were administered Pentavalent vaccines across the five participating local government areas,” she said.
Abba described the response from residents as encouraging, attributing the turnout to intensive house-to-house mobilisation and the involvement of traditional leaders and other community stakeholders.
She added that close supervision by government health authorities and development partners had also contributed to the progress recorded.
The executive secretary said that the government had secured an additional 650,000 doses of diphtheria-containing vaccines to strengthen and expand the reactive immunisation campaign.
She said that the additional doses would enable health authorities to rapidly protect residents in communities experiencing the outbreak and those considered vulnerable.
Abba urged residents to cooperate with health workers and vaccination teams, stressing that community participation was crucial to stopping the spread of the disease.
She also called on parents and caregivers to ensure that eligible children received routine childhood vaccinations and urged residents to promptly report suspected cases to the nearest health facility.
Abba assured residents that surveillance, treatment and vaccination activities would continue until the outbreak was brought under control.
She said that the combined efforts of government, health workers, communities, traditional and religious leaders and development partners would be critical to protecting lives and preventing further transmission.
NAN