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Adamawa Government has confirmed 232 Diphtheria cases and 34 deaths in 16 local government areas of the state from January till date.
Dr. Kadabiyu Jones, State Epidemiologist, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Yola on Tuesday.
Jones explained that the disease mainly affected the nose, throat and tonsils, making breathing and swallowing difficult.
He also said that though diphtheria affected all age groups, children, especially unvaccinated ones were more vulnerable and most of the children who died were unvaccinated and died in the communities, only a few died in health facilities.
He attributed most deaths to complications from late presentation and inadequate supply of diphtheria antitoxin, while blaming caregivers who keep sick children at home for traditional treatment instead of taking them to health facilities.
”By the time such children were brought to the facility, the disease has become severe and difficult to manage,” he said.
He urged caregivers to take children with suspected symptoms to the nearest facility immediately and advised them to ensure that children were fully vaccinated, noting that the vaccines were free.
He further appealed to residents to present sick children early for treatment to save their lives.(NAN)
