Nigerian Father Loses 5 Children to Diphtheria Within 8 Days as Outbreak Worsens
- A Kano father identified five of his children who died from suspected diphtheria within eight days, naming them as Sadiq, Aisha, Zainab, Umar, and Aliyu
- An anonymous staff member at the Kano State Centre for Disease Control confirmed the five deaths and said fatalities at the facility were rising
- Kano State has recorded over 38,000 suspected diphtheria cases and more than 1,800 deaths since the outbreak began in 2022
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A Kano father has lost five of his children to suspected diphtheria in just eight days, offering a harrowing account of how the disease is tearing through families in the state.
Ibrahim Yusuf, a resident of the Danbare area of Kano metropolis, said the ordeal began last week when his children developed fever.
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He first brought them to Kabuga Primary Healthcare Centre, but as their conditions deteriorated, doctors referred them to the Infectious Diseases Hospital (IDH), the facility designated by the Kano State Government to handle diphtheria cases.
Two of his children died on the same Monday, roughly 40 minutes apart. "They told us it was diphtheria. They admitted them, but two of them died the same day," he said. Three other children later showed similar symptoms and were also admitted to the IDH. "On Tuesday night, another child died, while on Wednesday, two more also died, bringing the total deaths in my house to five within eight days," he said.
The five children he lost were Sadiq, 13; Aisha, seven; Zainab, seven; Umar, six; and Aliyu, one year and six months old. Yusuf, who has 11 children, said the deaths had left his family devastated.
He added that he witnessed multiple corpses being taken from the hospital during the days he spent there. "People are dying in the hospital almost every day. In our neighbourhood too, another man lost his child. There are many cases," he said. He appealed to the government to act swiftly to contain the spread.
Five deaths confirmed at IDH
Efforts to reach the Kano State Centre for Disease Control (KNCDC) were unsuccessful. The agency's Director-General, Prof. Muhammad Adamu Abbas, was not at his office when a reporter visited, and calls and text messages to him went unanswered. However, a staff member who spoke anonymously confirmed the five deaths and said the number of fatalities recorded at the health facility was growing.
In August, the lawmaker representing Rano Constituency in the Kano State House of Assembly, Ibrahim Muhammad, said at least 50 children had died in his constituency alone. Residents suggested the real figure was higher, as some deaths occurred at home and were never reported.
The KNCDC disputed the lawmaker's figure, saying only two deaths had been officially confirmed in that local government area. The agency said the state had recorded more than 38,000 suspected diphtheria cases since the outbreak began in 2022, with over 31,000 confirmed and more than 1,800 deaths.
What Diphtheria does to the body
Dr Aminu Mato Jitandutse of the Community Medicine Department at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital described diphtheria as a serious bacterial infection caused by toxin-producing strains of *Corynebacterium diphtheriae*. The disease spreads through respiratory droplets and close contact. "The toxin produced by the bacteria can damage the heart, nerves and other organs, making early recognition, treatment and prevention very important," he said.
Symptoms include sore throat, fever, swollen glands, and in severe cases a thick greyish membrane over the throat and a swollen "bull neck." Complications can include heart inflammation, nerve damage, paralysis, and death. Dr Jitandutse urged routine childhood vaccination, early isolation of confirmed cases, and preventive antibiotics for close contacts.
Health experts have noted that more than 55% of cases in Kano involve children who have never received any vaccine. The state government has requested 9 million doses of diphtheria vaccines from the federal government, after the Ministry of Health sent only 500,000 doses alongside a rapid response team.
Earlier campaigns by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and the state Ministry of Health vaccinated nearly half a million children across two rounds, but officials say the immunity gap remains wide. Daily Trust observed health workers vaccinating children in affected neighbourhoods, with more than 400 children reached during one visit.
Plateau shuts down schools indefinitely
Legit.ng earlier reported that the Plateau State Government has ordered the immediate closure of all public and private primary and secondary schools across the state to stop the spread of a diphtheria outbreak that has already killed dozens of residents.
Source: Legit.ng
