Katsina Diphtheria Death Rate Rises To 5.6% As Cases Spread

Katsina State health officials say the diphtheria case fatality rate has risen to about 5.6 percent, with late hospital visits making treatment harder for many patients.

The update gives a clearer picture of the outbreak in Katsina, one of the northern states already under federal emergency attention. NaijaTrend earlier reported the Federal Government’s task force response to diphtheria in Kano and Katsina here.

Channels TV reported that the Acting Executive Secretary of the Katsina State Primary Health Care Agency, Dr Shaima’u Abba, said 32 patients were receiving treatment across four isolation centres. She said the outbreak had reached 30 of the state’s 34 local government areas, up from 29 earlier affected LGAs.

Abba said the state had strengthened surveillance, contact tracing, community sensitisation, case management and medicine supplies. She also urged parents and caregivers to complete children’s routine immunisation and seek care quickly when symptoms such as fever, cough, sore throat, difficulty breathing or neck swelling appear.

Daily Trust also reported the 5.6 percent casualty rate and said officials at the Federal Teaching Hospital, Katsina, gave a separate facility-level account of about 150 confirmed diphtheria admissions in the current outbreak, with 29 deaths recorded at the hospital.

The same report said outbreaks were affecting communities in Plateau, Katsina and Kano. It linked the spread to late presentation, gaps in immunisation and shortages of diphtheria antitoxin.

Sources: Channels TV, Daily Trust