The Edo State Authorities mentioned on Monday that two individuals died of diphtheria within the state.
DAILY POST experiences that Stephenson Ojeifo, the Director of Public Well being within the Edo State Ministry of Well being, disclosed this in Benin Metropolis.
Ojeifo mentioned the deaths had been recorded between January and August 2024.
He defined that the deaths had been from the six confirmed illness instances recorded through the interval.
He attributed the deaths to the late presentation of the affected deceased to the hospital for therapy.
Ojeifo described the deaths as a tragic prevalence for the state and famous that there was a necessity for well timed visits to the hospital when kids, together with adults, are sick, as an alternative of resorting to self-medication.
Based on him, the state recorded 20 suspected instances of diphtheria between January and August 2024.
“Out of those, six had been confirmed constructive and two deaths had been recorded,” he mentioned.
The Director of Public Well being, who mentioned diphtheria is a vaccine-preventable illness, urged moms and carers to make sure their kids are vaccinated.
He said that the vaccine is free and vaccination protects kids in opposition to childhood-preventable illnesses, which might trigger dying.
He additionally disclosed that the Nigerian Centre for Illness Management, NCDC, had offered the state with diphtheria antitoxins, which had been used on sufferers who got here early for therapy.
Ojeifo added that the antitoxins weren’t offered out there, however the state was capable of safe some from NCDC.
He mentioned the ministry nonetheless had a number of the vaccines in inventory however there is no such thing as a suspected lively case of the illness in Edo.
The World Well being Organisation, WHO, described diphtheria as a contagious illness brought on by a bacterium that impacts the higher respiratory tract and fewer usually the pores and skin.
Its frequent signs embody fever, sore throat and swelling of the neck glands.
