Illustration photo of measles vaccination.
Incomplete immunisation among children is driving the spread of diphtheria across Nigeria, public health expert, Dr Isaac Egboja, has warned.
Egboja, who spoke in an interview on ARISE NEWS on Friday, identified missed vaccine doses, overcrowding in internally displaced persons’ camps and insecurity as major factors increasing children’s vulnerability to the disease.
He said outbreaks had continued to pose a serious threat in several states, including Kano, Katsina, Plateau, Niger, Bauchi and Borno, with Kano remaining the primary epicentre.
“One of the main reasons or indications is that a lot of children have not been immunized at all or are not completely immunized. When I say not completely immunized, they may have taken some doses of the vaccine, but they didn’t complete them. For diphtheria, for example, you have to take DPT 1, DPT 2, 3, and 4. Four doses, even up to five sometimes—the fifth one usually being a booster.
