Nigeria has recorded 3,213 suspected Lassa fever infections, 583 confirmed cases and 108 deaths, with a case fatality rate of 18.8 per cent since January this year.
Director General of Nigeria Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (NCDC), Dr Jide Idris, who disclosed this yesterday in Abuja, stated that the cases were reported in 100 local Councils across 24 states.
He explained that Edo, Ondo, Bauchi, Taraba and Benue accounted for 86 per cent of confirmed cases, while people within the ages of 21 to 40 years were most affected.
Idris observed that as of March 3, 2024, 82 council areas across 22 states had reported 1,402 suspected incidents, 101 confirmed cases and 123 deaths, with a case fatality rate of 9.4 per cent.
According to him, Yobe, Bauchi, Jigawa, Gombe and Katsina accounted for 94 per cent of the cases, with kids between ages five and 14 years mostly affected, followed by those that fell within age brackets of 15 to 29 years.
He said the NCDC has effectively responded to several outbreaks, including Meningitis, measles, cholera and Diphtheria, in various states.
On Diphtheria, Idris clarified that as of February 28, 2024, 97 councils in 12 states reported 3,587 suspected cases, 1,915 confirmed cases and 33 deaths, with a case fatality rate of 1.7 per cent. Ages one to 14 years were most affected.
He said Kano, Yobe, Katsina, Bauchi, Borno, Kaduna and Jigawa recorded 96.4 per cent of the cases.
His words: “On measles outbreak, as at first week in February 2024 (Week 5) in 2024, states have reported 2,157 suspected cases, 1,442 confirmed cases and 14 deaths, with a case fatality rate of 1.0 per cent since January of the year 2024.
“Cholera outbreak: “As of February 29, 2024 (Week 9), 36 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in 15 states have reported 318 suspected cases, 28 confirmed cases and four deaths, with a case fatality rate of 1.3 per cent since January of the year 2024. Age groups of less than five years are mostly affected, followed by the age groups five to 14 years. Bayelsa, Cross River, Bauchi and Delta accounted for 86 per cent of cases in Nigeria.”
IN the meantime, the International Coordinating Group on Vaccine Provision has approved deployment of 1,043,377 doses of MenFive in response to Nigeria’s request, according to the Gavi Alliance
The most populous nation becomes the first country to get such.
The MenFive vaccine, developed through a 13-year collaboration between PATH and Serum Institute of India, with support from the United Kingdom government’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, got world Health Organisation (WHO) prequalification in July 2023, while the shipment was delivered by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
A statement by Gavi said the vaccine checks five main serogroups of meningococcal meningitis impacting Africa – meningococcal serogroups A, C, W, Y, and X. It is the only therapy that protects against serogroup X.
It noted that the doses would respond to an ongoing meningococcus C outbreak, targeting to vaccinate around a million children in six local councils of Jigawa State, namely Babura, Birniwa, Gagarawa, Gumel, Maigatari and Sule Tankarkar.
Commenting on the development, Director of High Impact Countries at Gavi, Dr Tokunbo Oshin, said: “With outbreaks of infectious diseases on the rise worldwide, new innovations such as MenFive are critical in helping us fight back. Thanks to vaccines, we have eliminated large and disruptive outbreaks of meningitis A in Africa: Now we have a tool to respond to other meningococcal meningitis serogroups that still cause large outbreaks, resulting in long-term disability and deaths:
“Gavi will be working closely with the Nigerian government, as well as our partners such as UNICEF and WHO, to support the response to this outbreak.”
