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Lara Adejoro
No fewer than 1,084 lives were lost to Lassa fever, cholera, measles, meningitis, mpox, and yellow fever in Nigeria in 2022.
The infections also resulted in 20,375 confirmed cases.
This is according to an analysis of disease situation reports obtained from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.
The PUNCH, however, observed that the situation reports for cholera, measles, meningitis, mpox and yellow fever were not updated to week 52 of 2022.
Disease outbreaks, especially reemerging diseases, have been a concern to public health experts and stakeholders.
According to The Lancet, high mobility between Nigeria and neighbouring countries combined with adverse climatic and environmental factors makes West Africa highly susceptible to the rapid spread of infections.
Lassa fever
The NCDC report for Lassa fever showed that out of the 8,202 suspected cases reported in 2022, there were 1,067 confirmed cases with 189 deaths.
The cases were confirmed across 112 local government areas and 27 states, with a case fatality rate of 17.7 per cent.
Meningitis
The data from meningitis showed that there were 961 suspected cases recorded in 159 LGAs and 33 states in 2022.
The number of deaths recorded from the disease stood at 56.
Cholera
The report showed that more deaths were recorded from cholera, with a death toll of 583 and a case fatality rate of 3.4 per cent.
The number of suspected cases of cholera across 270 LGAs and 33 states was 23,550.
The country reported 604 confirmed cases and 1549 suspected cases, with seven deaths. The cases were reported from 32 states across the country.
According to the World Health Organisation, Nigeria is at the top of the list of countries with mpox infections in the African region.
Yellow fever
A total of 1,601 suspected cases and seven confirmed cases of yellow fever were also recorded from 463 LGAs in 2022.
Fifteen deaths were recorded from the disease, with a CFR of 15 per cent.
Measles
The country also recorded 18,545 confirmed cases of measles, with 234 deaths. The cases were recorded across 40 LGAs.
In a related development, the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, said the ministry is monitoring the outbreak of diseases in the country.
According to him, the country is currently battling diphtheria, Lassa fever, cholera, meningitis, measles, COVID-19, and yellow fever.
Ehanire said, “The health sector is a joint responsibility of the state, the federal government, and even the local government, and we also try to involve the community in implementing our programmes. Everybody has a joint responsibility, but addressing a particular ailment is a collective responsibility of the federal and state governments.”
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