Kano seeks additional diphtheria vaccines from FG

Kano State is urgently appealing to the Federal Government for more diphtheria vaccines to launch a comprehensive mass vaccination campaign across the state. The request comes in the wake of a reported diphtheria outbreak in Rano and surrounding local government areas, which the Kano State House of Assembly stated has led to the deaths of over 50 children.

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Kano State has even written to the Federal Government to get more and more vaccines so that we vaccinate our people.

Professor Muhammad Abbas, Director-General of the Kano State Centre for Disease Control (KNCDC), confirmed the state has formally requested additional vaccines. He also implored residents, particularly parents, to ensure early reporting of diphtheria and other symptoms to health facilities. "Early presentation to healthcare facilities is what saves," he stated, emphasizing that prompt medical attention is crucial for all conditions, not just infectious diseases.

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We are appealing to parents to please report early. Early presentation to healthcare facilities is what saves. And even if not medical conditions, all conditions, including social, if they are long and complicated, taking care of them is always difficult. So, Please go to the healthcare facility near you. If the cases are epidemic-prone cases, they will alert us.

Professor Abbas expressed concern over the low rate of case reporting, despite deploying 126 disease surveillance and notification officers across the state's 44 local government areas. "It is really disheartening that we will have cases that are up to 50 that have not been reported to the hospital," he said, reiterating the call for people to seek medical help.

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So, it is really disheartening that we will have cases that are up to 50 that have not been reported to the hospital. We want to appeal to people: come to the clinics, come to the hospital. If the hospitals feel these cases are greater than what they can handle, they will refer them to us and we will do the needful.

The KNCDC chief highlighted that since the current administration took office, the state has recorded over 38,000 suspected cases of diphtheria, with more than 31,000 confirmed. Alarmingly, over 55% of these confirmed cases involved children who had not received any vaccinations (zero-dose), with another 16% partially immunized. "This means we have a very big deal in our hands," he stated, noting that his team is investigating the Rano situation to determine the exact causes of death, sometimes using verbal autopsies when necessary.

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I want to tell you that we had over 38,000 cases from 2022 till date, out of which over 31,000 cases were confirmed. But the disheartening thing is that more than 55% of those are what we call zero-dose children who have not received any form of vaccination. More than 16% of the cases and another 10 to 15% of them were partially immunised. Only a few of them were fully immunised, which means we have a very big deal in our hands.