At least 30 children have died as a result of suspected diphtheria with 42 others admitted at the isolation center of the Specialist Hospital in Potiskum Local Government area of Yobe State.
The most affected areas are Tandari, Misau Road, Sabuwar Sakateriya, Arikime, Ramin Kasa, Boriya, Igwanda and Texaco quarters.
It is learnt that those admitted at Isolation center of the Specialist hospital in Potiskum are faced with inadequate drugs to cater.
The source said so far about 46 cases have been admitted with more than 5 casualties.
Of the death, more than 20 children have died at home while four casualties were recorded at the hospital.
A parent of one of the patient’s children, Abdullahi Muhammad, said ‘‘many children have died at home before coming to the hospital, it’s a deadly disease claiming lives.
‘‘We appeal to the government to promptly respond to save the lives of our innocent children. The symptoms we observed include fever, coughing, weakness of the body among others.”
According to Neptune Prime reporter Ibrahim El-Tafsir who lives in Potiskum said ‘‘though the government officials refused to tell us the number of mortality rate there are houses where two to four kids died and we are still burying the dyed children.’’
The Potiskum zonal Immunization officer Mallam Buba, did not give the casualty number, but added that no fewer than 42 children were hospitalized.
He said most of the affected children did not die in the hospital, adding that the parents of the kids did not bring them to the hospital at the appropriate time.
The Director of the Primary Health Care Unit Potiskum LGA, Mallam Abdurrahman Musa, said based on the report they received, they sensitized the public on how to prevent the disease.
‘‘Yesterday morning I was at the hospital for checks, the sample has been taken to the laboratory for analysis and we will continue to immunize and provide adequate drugs to the isolation center of the hospital,’’ he said
The Acting Executive Secretary of the Yobe State Primary Health Care Management Board, Dr. Umar Chiroma, said ‘‘they have received the report of suspected diphtheria outbreak in Potiskum over the weekend, adding that immediately the board mobilized the LGA team to the affected areas for sensitization to stop the spread of this diseases. For now, we cannot declare it as diphtheria till we take the sample and do a diagnosis from there we can announce what it is.
‘‘Some of these patients are above 30 years, some 14 while some are 12 to eight years. Unfortunately, some of their families are the people who are not complying with the immunization vaccine which is why it mostly affects children that were not being taken to health facilities. The information which I don’t have is the vaccination during their (children’s) early childhood’’ he said.
Chiroma could not give the casualty figure, saying ‘‘some of them have recovered, so we cannot confirm that it’s diphtheria unless we have diagnosed it.
He said “Just this morning I received the update of the outbreak from the director in charge of the zone so we are yet to receive the official mortality rate as of now.”
