Rahama Sanusi Karama, John Kama, Obaidullah Nasih and Jalamanchili Prithvi
Diphtheria is a highly contagious bacterial infection that primarily affects the throat and upper airways. Before the introduction of vaccines, there were many case and fatalities from diphtheria. During the 1920s, over 150,000 case of diphtheria with an average of 14,000 deaths reported each year in the United States of America. Ever since the diphtheria toxoid vaccine has been made available in the 1940s, there have been a massive decline in diphtheria morbidities and mortalities in developed countries as compared to developing and underdeveloped countries. The socioeconomic status of Nigeria could have contributed to the recent Outbreak of diphtheria. As a country, Nigeria has struggled to have a functioning Economy system but still no solution despite efforts from the government. For instance, the recent outbreak has been linked to low vaccine coverage especially in rural communities in the country. Poor access to healthcare has also played a role on the basis of insecurity and inadequate functioning health infrastructures. There is little or no awareness, conferences, workshops concerning the importance of vaccination all because of shortage of health workers in the country.
Most of these factors above, have leads us to experiencing symptoms of diphtheria such as sore throat, low-grade fever, and weakness, and progress to include a thick gray coating on the throat and difficulty breathing recently. Diphtheria can be prevented if vaccination is done as scheduled by the WHO (World Health Organisation and NPI (National programme for immunization). Thereby, treatment and potential complications such as heart and nerve damage, and in severe cases, can be avoided. Outbreaks of diphtheria were also reported in Nigeria in the early 1990s, and again in 2011, 2017 and 2018 respectively. To prevent future outbreaks, low vaccine coverage and socioeconomic status must be tackled effectively by the Nigerian Government.