With surge of Diphtheria affecting the country, the World Health Organisation (WHO), says Nigeria is scheduled to receive 1,800 vials of diphtheria antitoxin on August 2nd.
Diphtheria is a bacterial infection caused by the corynebacterium species, which primarily affects the nose, throat, and occasionally, the skin of an individual.
Some symptoms of diphtheria include fever, runny nose, sore throat, cough, red eyes, neck swelling, and difficulty in breathing.
During a press conference on Monday, Walter Mulombo, the WHO country representative, announced that Nigeria is set to receive erythromycin IV in the next two weeks, subject to government authorization.
“These health commodities are essential for saving lives and reducing the sequelae in the affected patients, thus need to be prepositioned in Nigeria and ready to be deployed to the states in need,” he said.
Diphtheria antitoxin is a medication made up of antibodies used in the treatment of the disease while erythromycin IV is an intravenous administration of erythromycin which is a macrolide antibiotic that is used to treat various bacterial infections.
Mulombo said the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), had requested WHO to procure the diphtheria antitoxin and erythromycin IV for the management of diphtheria cases.
The country director stated that a combined team comprising members from the Nigeria Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Programme and the WHO is currently present in Yobe and Kano states. Their objective is to enhance surveillance at both health facility and community levels in the region.
He added that the organisation is also supporting the procurement of laboratory commodities to increase the result turnaround time to support the case definition and management at an early stage.
