ZAMFARA State Ministry of Health says it has recorded 44 deaths following an outbreak of diphtheria in parts of the state.
The State Director of Public Health in the ministry, Dr. Yusuf Haske, gave the update to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in a telephone interview in Gusau on Monday.
Haske’s update followed the extension of school resumption by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.
He further disclosed that the health ministry had so far recorded 367 clinically suspected cases of diphtheria, with more than 320 patients successfully treated and discharged.
He explained that laboratory tests conducted on samples collected from suspected patients confirmed the presence of the diphtheria-causing organism.
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Haske said the samples were sent to the National Reference Laboratory in Abuja, where the diagnosis was further confirmed.
According to him, following the confirmation, the State Ministry of Health, on the directive of Gov. Dauda Lawal, declared the outbreak and activated the Incident Management System to coordinate the response.
He said the response included the activation of state and local government rapid response teams, as well as case-management activities across the state’s 14 local government areas.
Haske noted that general hospitals in the state had created isolation centres for the treatment of diphtheria patients, while Gusau Local Government Area, which recorded the highest number of cases, had about four treatment centres.
According to him, 320 patients have been treated and discharged, with oral medication provided for continued treatment at home.
The director, however, said the state had recorded 44 deaths, attributing the continued spread partly to active community transmission.
He noted that children between the ages of six and 10 years were among the most affected, prompting the Ministry of Health to advise the Ministry of Education on measures to reduce the spread.
He expressed optimism that the situation would improve, noting that although the number of cases “is still increasing, the number of deaths has reduced and many patients are responding positively to treatment.”
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