No fewer than 30 children have died as a result of suspected diphtheria outbreak disease and 42 others hospitalized at the isolation center of the Specialist Hospital in the Potiskum Local Government area of Yobe State.
Diphtheria is a highly infectious disease of the upper respiratory tract characterized by a sore throat, fever, and difficulty in breathing.
The most affected areas according to Daily Trust findings include Tandari, Misau Road, Sabuwar Sakateriya, Arikime, Ramin Kasa, Boriya, Igwanda, and Texaco quarters.
It was gathered that more than 20 children have died at home while 4 casualties were recorded at the hospital.
It was further learned that so far about 46 cases have been admitted with more than 5 casualties and the Isolation center of the Specialist Hospital in Potiskum is faced with inadequate drugs to contain the situation.
The Director of the Primary Health Care Unit Potiskum LGA, Mallam Abdurrahman Musa, said that based on the report they received, they sensitized the public on how to prevent the disease.
“Yesterday morning I was at the hospital for checks, the sample has been taken to the laboratory for analysis and we will continue to immunize and provide adequate drugs to the isolation center of the hospital,” he said.
A parent of one of the affected children, who simply identified himself as Abdullahi Muhammad, said ‘‘many children have died at home before coming to the hospital; it’s a deadly disease claiming lives.
“We appeal to the government to promptly respond to save the lives of our innocent children. The symptoms we observed include fever, coughing, and weakness of the body among others.”
When contacted, Potiskum zonal Immunization officer Mallam Buba, denied the casualties figures but admitted that no fewer than 42 children were hospitalized.
He lamented that most of the affected children did not die in the hospital, blaming the parents for their lukewarm attitude towards bringing their kids to the hospital at the appropriate time.
The Acting Executive Secretary of the Yobe State Primary Health Care Management Board, Dr. Umar Chiroma who also confirmed the outbreak said “When we received the report of a suspected diphtheria outbreak in Potiskum over the weekend, we immediately mobilized the LGA team to the affected areas for sensitization to stop the spread of this disease. For now, we cannot declare it as diphtheria till we take the sample and do a diagnosis from there we can announce what its.
‘‘Some of these patients are above 30 years some 14 while some are 12 to 8 years. Unfortunately, some of their family are the people who do not comply with the immunization vaccine which is why it mostly affected children that had not been taken to health facilities. The information which I don’t have is the vaccination during their (children’s) early childhood’’ he said.
On the casualty figure, he said “Some of them have recovered, so we might not have to confirm that it’s diphtheria unless we have diagnosed it. Just this morning I received the update of the outbreak from the director in charge of the zone so we are yet to receive the official mortality rate as of now”.
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