The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Measles

  • Council chief kicks off measles campaign

    Council chief kicks off measles campaign

    Chairman of Okpe Local Government in Delta State, Chief Onoriode Esiovwa, has kicked off 2024 integrated Measles Campaign in the council.

    The ceremony, which held at Oha Community Health Care Centre, attracted council dignitaries, and stakeholders from health.

    Esiovwa said: “I welcome you to the launch of this year’s integrated Measles Campaign in Okpe Local Government of Delta State.

    “Measles is a common and highly infectious viral disease that affects children with no specific treatment.

    Read Also: Adamawa measles deaths rise to 49

    “This is an opportunity to vaccinate our children to fortify their immune system and overcome this disease. This exercise, tagged integrated Measles Campaign, is in all health facilities and designated temporary immunisation posts in the local government, “

    He added: “This campaign will reduce measles and interrupt polio transmission among children, this features administration of oral polio vaccines to children of 0-59 months and measles vaccine on children of nine-59 months.

    “ I call on mothers and caregivers to avail themselves of this opportunity and take their children to the nearest immunisation post for vaccination.

     “There are supervisors,  vaccinators, community mobilisers,  town announcers and recorders trained to carry out this,“ he said.

  • Adamawa measles deaths rise to 49

    Adamawa measles deaths rise to 49

    Deaths arising from outbreak of measles in Adamawa State have risen to 49.

    This came to light as government officials gave update on efforts to curtail the disease as the World Health Organisation (WHO) addressed newsmen in Yola on factual reporting standards.

    During the WHO Media Orientation Engagement at the WHO state office in Yola, the Adamawa State Epidemiologist, Kadabiyu Jones, said 49 deaths had been recorded so far and 143 cases of the 818 suspected measles cases confirmed positive.

    He said the affected persons were children between 1 and 14 years, most of them not previously vaccinated.

    Read Also: Adamawa women battle shortage of family planning commodities

    He confirmed the State had deployed surveillance personnel to track the outbreak and that it is working hard to ensure all vulnerable groups are captured within the ongoing reaction vaccination exercise.

    The Nation recalls Commissioner of Health, Dr Felix Tangwame, confirmed the outbreak last Saturday putting the number of deaths at 42.

    The Ministry of Education had followed up on Monday, May 6, with announcement of postponement of resumption of schools to allow vaccination effort meant to check spread of the disease. 

    Addressing newmen during the WHO Media Engagement organised to update journalists on ideal reporting of emergencies, the WHO  Coordinator in Adamawa State, Dr Ahemen Terseer, called for caution.

    The State coordinator said the media which is a critical component of public health needs to be factual in all instances.

    Ahemen said the media has the power to make or mar any public health campaign, hence the need to deliver accurate, fact-based information that will enhance public health.

  • 19 children feared killed by measles complications in Adamawa

    19 children feared killed by measles complications in Adamawa

    Complication from measles is suspected to have killed at least 19 children in Mubi North Local Government Area of Adamawa.

    Commissioner for Health, Mr Felix Tangwami told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Mubi on Saturday that more than 200 children in the local government area were already infected.

    He said the outbreak was reported in Yola on Saturday, leading to a quick mobilisation of medics and drugs to affected communities.

    Read Also: Lagos shuts churches, bars, hotels over noise pollution

    He assured that children with severe infections would be referred to hospitals.

    The commissioner said the medical team would move from Mubi to Gombi Local Government Area where another outbreak had been reported.

    Tangwami blamed the refusal of parents to immunise their children for the outbreak.

  • Measles outbreak forces Cross River schools to vacate

    Measles outbreak forces Cross River schools to vacate

    An outbreak of measles has been reported and confirmed in two schools located in Akpabuyo local government areas of Cross River State.

    The Commissioner for Health in the State, Dr. Henry Ayuk confirmed the outbreak naming the two schools as Navy Secondary School and Penniel Primary Schools, both cited in the area.

    He disclosed that the State Rapid Response Team from the Ministry of Health has been activated and deployed to the affected area.

    Also “reactive vaccination for children is ongoing in the affected areas and in other local government areas where there are no reported cases.

    He said the State Primary Healthcare Development Agency is intensifying routine immunisation to build up herd immunity. Warning that Measles is a highly contagious infection, especially among non-immunised children, and Parents and caregivers are encouraged to respond positively to routine immunisation campaigns for their children.”

    Already, the management of the Nigeria Navy School has closed down the school due to the outbreak and directed parents to immediately come and pick up their children in the boarding facility.

    Read Also: NLC to Fed Govt: let salaries, wages be commensurate with cost of living

    The statement from the Navy School to parents read this; “Good morning dear parents/guardian. This is to inform you that the school is vacating today due to some prevalent circumstances. The second-term academic activities will continue upon the return of the students. The date of return will be communicated. Please note that all SS 3 and JSS 3 students are to check for regular updates on WAEC, NECO, and BECE information. To this end, parents/guardians are kindly requested to pick up their children/wards with effect from today Fri 8 March 2024. Thank you and God bless.”

    Efforts to talk to the School Commandant, Capt FI Uchieme were unsuccessful as his phone number wasn’t going through.

    The Chairman of the Parents Teachers Association in the School, Okon Bassey Esq confirmed receipt of the message forcing the children into vacation but said he was yet to get through to the school management over the development.

  • ‘Nigeria has highest world burden in measles’

    Nigeria occupies the top position on the global burden of measles with 3.3 million un-immunised children.

    Borno State Coordinator of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Dr. Audu Idawo said this at a stakeholders’ meeting in preparation for the launch of the measles vaccination campaign in the state.

    “Despite the availability of safe and effective vaccines, Nigeria accounts for the highest burden of measles globally, with 3.3 million unimmunised children,” Dr. Idawo said.

    The campaign  is to run from March  21-25 in conjunction with the Ministry of Health, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and WHO.

    It targets 1.7 million children from the age of six months to 10 years.

    Director of Disease Control in the state’s Primary Health Care Agency Babagana Adiso said: “Immunisation remains one of the most effective ways to protect children from killer diseases. This campaign gives us the opportunity to protect the lives of children at risk of missing out on routine immunisation in Borno.”

    According to the Nigeria 2017 Demographic Health Survey, only 65 per cent of eligible children received their first dose of measles vaccine every year. In Borno, this low coverage led to the deaths of 13 children in the current measles outbreak. Routine vaccination for children, combined with mass immunisation campaigns, remained a key public health strategy to reduce measles deaths.

    UNICEF’s Borno Chief of Field Office Geoffrey Ijumba said “UNICEF will continue to support Nigeria to reach every child with the measles vaccine. I urge everyone to ensure that all children access the vaccine during the campaign period.”

    Reports showed that measles is one of the most contagious infections known to humans, and ranks among the top four childhood killers worldwide.

    The measles vaccine will be administered free-of-charge in mosques, villages, IDP camps and health facilities, targeting children under the age of 10 in high-risk areas of Borno, irrespective of their previous measles vaccination status or history of disease.

    The campaign is planned in two phases. The first phase will take place in Maiduguri Metropolitan Local Government Authority in Borno from March 21-25, and includes the most affected and at-risk areas as well as accessible settlements. The second phase will be done later in the year, and will cover the remaining 12 councils.

  • Eight deadliest diseases in Nigeria

    We have gotten accustomed to statements like “the end time is near, nations will be against nations, all manner of sicknesses will plague the land and more”. Coincidentally, as a nation, we have had to battle with critical and life threatening diseases that has stolen the limelight of other lesser diseases that are also killer beings.

    In the year 2015, we had the case of Ebola that placed the fear on the foreheads of Nigerians and other West African countries. It surely wasn’t easy to contain such disease but it was reduced yet it is raising its ugly head in moments of opportunities.

    In the year 2016, we had the case of Lassa fever that seemed to make Nigerians pick the option of keeping their environment neat than allowing rodents visit their foodstuffs.

    The truth still remains that there are several lesser known diseases yet to come to limelight that are wiping lives on daily basis.

    1. Malaria

    Malaria is a major health problem mostly in Africa where thirty countries in Sub-Saharan Africa account for 90% of global malaria deaths. It is also important to note that Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, and Uganda account for nearly 50% of the global malaria deaths. It is estimated that up to 100 million cases of malaria resulting in over 300,000 deaths in Nigeria every year. 97% of Nigeria’s population are exposed to the risk of having malaria and the remaining 3% live on the malaria free highlands in Nigeria.

    Sadly, the “ordinary Malaria you know is the ultimate killer of all times with millions of deaths in its portfolio”. This mosquito transmitted disease causes symptoms that generally start off as a general feeling of un-wellness (malaise) and later progressing to fever and headache, which in severe cases can end up with coma or death.

    Although, research has proven that the proponent of this slow poison is dirty environment and stagnant waters in gutters and drainages.

    To curb the cases of malaria, there are different seminars to educate the masses on the symptoms, prevention and causes measures, issuing of free mosquito nets and proper adherence to sanitation days.

    2. Perinatal Conditions

    As happy as the outcome of childbirth is, some people come out with health challenges while some are free from the health challenges

    Perinatal conditions are events occurring around the time of childbirth. There is no doubt that childbirth can be a very magical moment mostly cherished between young parents and a newborn.

    However, out of over half a million pregnancy-related deaths worldwide, it may interest you to know that there are over 40,000 of those occurring in Nigeria and some sources including official data from National Population Commission (NPC) have suggested that over 140 people die every day from pregnancy-related conditions in Nigeria alone making Nigeria the second country with the highest maternal mortality rate (after India) and the highest in Africa. This is a substantial proportion when viewed from a global standpoint. It has been established that 70 percent of pregnancy-related deaths in Nigeria are as a result of 4 conditions: haemorrhage, sepsis, eclampsia and complications of abortion and can easily be prevented.

    3.Cerebrovascular Disease/Accident (Stroke)

    Cerebrovascular disease may sound more technical. It is still the same as stroke which occurs when there is a loss of blood supply to a part of the brain which could either result from blockage or rupture of a blood vessel commonly known as Ischaemic or Haemorrhagic stroke respectively.

    If blood flow is interrupted, for longer than a few minutes, the brain cells begin to suffer from irreparable damage which could result in permanent damage.

    4. Diarrhoeal Diseases

    Diarrhoeal disease is a very common cause of death most especially in third world countries while it is the second most common cause of deaths in children less than 1-year-old worldwide. According to the latest WHO data deaths caused by diarrhoeal diseases in Nigeria reached 173,878 or 10.19% of total deaths and the age adjusted Death Rate is 101.48 per 100,000 of the population. This data ranks Nigeria as the 19th country in the world.
    Deadliest Diseases

    5. Respiratory Tract Infection/Pneumonia

    Respiratory tract infection including pneumonia constituted the second leading cause of death in Nigeria. There are two major types of lower respiratory infections: bronchitis and pneumonia. Some of the easily recognizable symptoms of these infections include a runny nose and sneezing, headache, and sore throat. Symptoms may include fever in more severe cases like pneumonia. In most developing countries, these diseases can easily be lethal unlike in developed nations.

    6. Measles

    Measles is a highly contagious respiratory disease affecting up to 90% of people sharing a living space with an infected person. Across the globe, measles kills 22 people every hour or about 197,000 people every year; remaining a leading cause of death among children most especially the under fives.

    Despite the availability of vaccine, the spread of measles is fuelled by poverty, lack of access to medicine and lack of education though there has been a drastic fall in the cases of measles by up to 74% within the last 15 years, the disease stills claims thousands of lives.

    7. Tuberculosis (TB)

    The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that one-third of the world’s 7 billion population is currently infected with TB and that someone in the world is getting newly infected with TB every second that passes more of which happens again in Sub-Saharan Africa.
    However, the good news is that being infected does not mean that the disease is going to manifest as the individual to an obvious state like other debilitating illness or condition that suppress the immunity like HIV/AIDS, malnutrition and some other chronic (long-standing diseases) like poorly managed diabetes. The bitter truth is that TB is next to HIV/AIDS when it comes to number of deaths caused. Back in 2012, there were around 1.3 million TB-related deaths worldwide most of which occur in Sub-Saharan Africa, South East Asia and other developing countries.

    8. HIV/AIDS

    HIV/AIDS was first reported in the 1980s and the fact remains that since then, AIDS has caused over 30 million deaths. This is more than the population of Gabon, Botswana, Gambia, Qatar, Jamaica, New Zealand, Ireland, Norway and Denmark put together. Though its mortality rate has reduced because of education and anti-viral medications used to combat it, it still kills millions of people year on year.

    According to UNAIDS, In 2012, there were 35.3 million people living with HIV and since the start of the epidemic, around 75 million [63 million–89 million] have become infected with HIV. In 2012, 1.6 million people died from AIDS-related causes worldwide; over 1 million deaths occur in Africa on a yearly bases and Nigeria recorded 239,700 deaths in the same year. This is far more than every single Ebola outbreak in history added together.

    In as much as the media doesn’t equalize the treatment given to all ailments in communicating its effect and symptoms, there are other lesser diseases that surely kill faster.” The smaller, the mightier”.

    To this end, it is advisable to always go for checkups every 3 month, likewise reporting oneself to the hospital in cases of confusing symptoms as well as sick moments.

  • Kaduna introduces house-to-house search against outbreak of diseases

    The Kaduna State Government has introduced a house-to-house search mechanism to prevent and protect residents against outbreak of infectious diseases.

    The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Paul Dogo, said in a statement made available to us on Sunday in Kaduna that government was ready to tackle measles, cholera, meningitis and other viral haemorrhagic diseases.

    Dogo noted that the exercise was designed to curb the spread of the diseases across and beyond the state.

    He said the state has not recorded any single case in the 23 local government areas and assured that no chance would be taken to contain any disease outbreak.

    The commissioner said the state has a robust supply chain management system with medicines that can easily be pre-positioned in hospitals to manage isolated cases. ‎‎

    “We have made preparedness for outbreak of infectious diseases such as measles, cholera, meningitis, Lassa fever and other viral haemorrhagic diseases.

    “Our robust supply chain management system have medicines that can easily be pre-positioned in our hospitals to manage isolated cases,” he said.‎

    Dogo also said that the state have maintained polio-free status since November 2012 and is working hard to build sufficient herd immunity through strengthened routine immunisation ‎programme.

    On tuberculosis, the commissioner explained that the ministry had commenced house-to-house search for active tuberculosis patients to curb the spread of the disease by undetected active TB cases within communities in the state.‎‎

    He said that to ensure success, the state government deployed 1,240 newly recruited medical professionals to hospitals across the state.

    “This has improved the human resource situation of our General Hospitals and better quality of services,” the commissioner said.

    NAN

  • Borno confirms three dead from fresh cholera outbreak

    No fewer than three persons died in fresh cholera outbreak in Kukawa Local Government area of Borno, the Commissioner for Health, Dr Haruna Mshelia, has said.

    Mshelia made the disclosure when the Director General, World Health Organization (WHO), Dr Tedros Ghebrayesus, visited the WHO’s Emergency and Response Centre on Friday in Maiduguri.

    He said that about 700 cases of cholera were recorded in Baga, Doron Baga and Kukawa in the past weeks.

    He said that the state government in collaboration with WHO and other partner agencies had scaled up activities to combat the outbreak in the affected communities.

    Mshelia said the state government in the past six months conducted vaccination to control the disease.

    The commissioner added that the state government, with the support from WHO and other organizations, had also executed various programmes to control, hepatitis E, malaria, polio, measles, meningitis and other diseases.

    Mshelia called for closer collaboration with WHO to enhance healthcare delivery in the state.

    Read Also: Borno free of cholera outbreak – Commissioner

    Ghebrayesus assured of WHO’s commitment to contain the spread of cholera, polio and other diseases in the state.

    He said: “The current cholera outbreak was recorded in areas where vaccination was not conducted. The outbreak would be analysed to avert future ocurrence.”

    He commanded the state government for demonstrating the political will to control the outbreak and transform healthcare service delivery in the state.

    It would be recalled that 61 persons died of cholera between June and December, 2017.

  • Children and the threat of measles

    Many Nigerians are still not getting their children fully immunized. They treat vaccinations with kid-gloves in spite of serious challenges some diseases pose to child survival and endemic nature of such diseases in the country. Every minute one child under the age of one dies in Nigeria. Many of these deaths are from preventable causes especially from vaccine preventable ones such as pneumonia, measles, malaria and diarrhoea.

    Though there has been a substantial decline in global measles death, Nigeria is still up on the chart of number of children not vaccinated against measles. Nigeria tops the list of countries with unvaccinated children from measles with 3.3 million children, followed by India – 2.9 million, Pakistan – 2.0 million, Indonesia –  1.2 million, Ethiopia – 0.9 million, and DRC with 0.7 million.

    Despite the efforts of governments, World Health Organisation, WHO, and United Nations International Children Fund’s (UNICEF’s) measles-reduction strategy, and the partnership of other international organizations supporting measles reduction, certain states continue to face recurrent epidemics.

    In the light of the above, the current nation-wide measles campaign in the country provides an opportunity to look at this problem and to mobilize parents to avail children in the age range of nine months to five years irrespective of immunization status to get vaccinated against measles infection. For instance, measles campaign has been ongoing in the 576 Primary Health Care Centres in the 18 Local Government Areas of Ondo State since March 8, and will end on March 20. In Lagos, it commenced yesterday, March 15 and continues till March 27. It is also continuing or scheduled to commence in many other states.

    Measles infection and mortality occurs all year round irrespective of whether it was rainy or dry season, reinforcing measles endemic nature in this part of West Africa. An airborne virus, measles is transmitted by respiratory droplets from the nose, mouth, or throat of an infected person and a leading cause of death among children world-wide.

    What is worrisome to health authorities in the country and should be of serious concern to everyone is that the measles virus can spread from a person four days before the onset of the tell-tale rash, making people with the virus to become contagious ever before they are actually aware that they had measles. Another fact that makes measles virus really scary is that it can live on surfaces for up to two hours and in an unimmunized population, one person with measles can infect 12 to 18 others.

    This is way higher than other scary viruses like Ebola and HIV. With Ebola, one case usually leads to two others while in the case of HIV, one case leads to another four.  A person with measles can cough in a room, and — if you are unvaccinated — hours later, you could catch the virus from the droplets in the air that they left behind. This accounts for why everybody must be a change agent and social mobilizer propagating measles immunization rather than being merely contended after getting our own children vaccinated.

    According to the Centre for Disease Control (CDC), the horrible mathematics of measles looks like this: one out of every 20 children with measles gets pneumonia; one in 1,000 will develop encephalitis (swelling of the brain); and one or two in 1,000 children will die. The optimal age for infant measles vaccination is an important health issue since maternal antibodies may neutralize the vaccine antigen before a specific immune response develops. Delaying vaccination, on the other hand, may increase the risk of complicated disease. Getting only one dose of the vaccine instead of the recommended two also seems to increase people’s chances of getting measles if they are ever exposed.

    The question here is why is our case in Nigeria always different? Nearly, everyone in the U.S. got measles before there was a vaccine, and hundreds died from it each year. Today, most doctors have never seen a case of measles. More than 15,000 Americans died from diphtheria in 1921, before there was a vaccine. Now, there are no more cases of diphtheria in Trump’s country. Americans have also recorded success in fighting rubella (German measles) that was epidemic there in 1964-65.

    Learning about those successes, shouldn’t we explore various reasons why we can eradicate measles and other childhood diseases here in spite of availability of vaccinations that are even free of cost to the care-givers?

    How we respond to the ongoing measles follow- up campaign taking place in all Primary Health Care Centres and other designated posts such as markets, royal houses, schools, churches, mosques etc. will go a long way in defining value we place on the survival of our children. Parents need to take action by taking their children within age range to get vaccinated and get a card after vaccination. On the part of care-givers, it should be known that child survival is not by accident. As such, everyone should avail of this opportunity to immunize against measles.

    For governments across the country, more budgetary provision should be made for measles vaccination efforts so that infrastructures will be in place that will also serve as a frame-work for other vaccine-preventable disease interventions, as the health institutions are weak at the primary and secondary levels, especially in remote and rural areas. Maintenance of cold chain for vaccines should also be a priority as temperatures vary, and so does the time taken to get to some vaccination locations which reduces vaccine quality as a result of thawing. Internally Displaced Persons at various camps in the country should also be covered by states where such exist.

    Here, let’s consider analogy of the care farmers give to plants in the first two years of planting to further explain importance of care needed by children at infant stage. In the first few days of a plant’s life, especially when the first two tender leaves shoot out from the soil, extra care is taken to ensure that the nourishment required for sustenance is available; that protection is provided against potential pests, parasites, animals and other dangers. The farmer jealously watches over the tender crops to ensure that their future (which is tied to his own future too) is secured. If the crop is such that will need to climb e.g. yam, climbing beans, etc., the farmer begins to assemble stakes that will help the crop to find direction and to climb.

    Parents go through almost similar process preparing for the baby’s arrival. Once the baby arrives, the first two years are critical. Measure must be taken to ensure it gets the best care to help it grow -healthy (including immunization); as episode of sickness takes the child backwards.

    The measles vaccine is known to be extremely safe and very effective. It contains a live but weakened version of the virus, and it causes the immune system to produce antibodies against the virus. Allowing our children to get vaccinated is to maximize their future well-being.

     

    • Musbau is of the Features Unit, Lagos State Ministry of Information & Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja.

  • Lagos govt begins vaccination against measles

    This year’s measles vaccination campaign for children between nine months and five years will hold in Lagos State from today till March 29, the state government has said.

    The Special Adviser to the Governor on Primary Health Care, Dr. Olufemi Onanuga, announced this yesterday at a media briefing on the government’s preparedness for the campaign.

    The governor’s aide said 3,609,538 children are targeted during the vaccination campaign.

    He said: “The objective of the campaign is to immunise at least 95 per cent of children aged nine months to five years with measles vaccine in all local government areas, regardless of their previous immunisation status.”

    Onanuga said the vaccination campaign would be implemented in two streams, adding that the first stream will hold in Alimosho, Agege, Ajeromi-Ifelodun, Amuwo-Odofin, Epe, Ikorodu, Lagos Island, Lagos Mainland, Mushin and Ojo local government areas between March 15 and 22.

    He added that the second stream will hold between March 22 and 29 in Apapa, Badagry, Eti-Osa, Ibeju-Lekki, Ikeja, Ifako-Ijaiye, Kosofe, Oshodi-Isolo, Somolu and Surulere local government areas.

    “Mop-up exercises would be carried out for the first and second streams between March 21 and 22 as well as on March 28 and 29 in wards and communities adjudged not to have been adequately covered, as set out in the objectives of the campaign.”