NIGERIA: "Hundreds" dead in measles outbreak
Pastor Dale Morgan
*NIGERIA: "Hundreds" dead in measles outbreak*
14 Dec 2007 22:32:06 GMT
Source: IRIN
KANO, 14 December 2007 (IRIN) - A measles outbreak has killed at least
200 children in Nigeria in recent weeks according to the International
Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
The Nigerian Red Cross is sending teams to affected cities in northern
Nigeria to train volunteers and educate communities about prevention,
according to a 13 December report by the IFRC, which contained the
estimate of deaths.
Hundreds more children are infected, with cases in Kaduna, Kano, Katsina
and Jigawa states, according to Mahmud Mustapha, director of the
National Primary Health Care Development Agency in charge of seven
north-western states.
"Conservatively the death toll in this outbreak may exceed 200 across
the city [of Zaria in Kaduna state] because one needs to go round to
hospitals to grasp how bad the situation is," Murjanatu Saminu, a nurse
at Tudun Wada maternity hospital in Zaria, told IRIN.
"The situation is alarming because the number of measles cases being
brought to this hospital is just unbelievable," she said. "We receive at
least 17 cases a day."
Apart from causing death, measles is a major cause of blindness among
children in Africa and has the potential to damage the brain, leading to
deafness and paralysis.
Counting the cost
In a teaching hospital in northern Kano state, one health worker said at
least 20 cases were being seen daily. But the true number of cases is
probably higher, said Haladu Sani, a pediatrician. "A number of parents
do not bring their infected children to hospital but stay at home and
resort to traditional medication."
However a local government health official said the death count has been
exaggerated. "People here have a penchant for inflating figures when
outbreaks like this happen," said Aminu Gidado, Zaria health
coordinator. He said "scores of children died", not hundreds.
The United Nations announced in late November that in Africa deaths from
measles – a potentially deadly but preventable disease – decreased by 91
percent between 2000 and 2006. UN said the drop has been due largely to
governments' vaccination efforts. But UN Children's Fund head, Ann
Veneman, said the illness is still killing nearly 600 under-five
children around the world every day.
Response
The Kaduna health ministry has sent health workers with 8,000 doses of
measles vaccination to Zaria, health coordinator Gidado said.
Kano health officials have started a massive education campaign with
radio jingles and announcements, calling on parents to have their
children vaccinated. The national primary health agency's Mustapha says
the agency plans to do house-to-house vaccinations in January 2008.
The measles virus is spread by coughing and sneezing or close personal
contact, according to the World Health Organization. Immunisation
efforts suffered major setbacks in northern Nigeria in recent years when
some religious leaders called into question 'western' medicine and
vaccination campaigns.
Immunisation
After a serious measles outbreak in Nigeria in early 2005, the
government primary health care agency did a house-to-house vaccination
campaign throughout northern Nigeria. But some health workers say
following the intensive campaign parents failed to continue taking
children to hospital as needed for regular vaccinations.
Health officials in northern Nigeria say measles is re-emerging because
many parents are not getting their children vaccinated.
"The main reason for its resurgence is low level of immunisation," said
Kabir Maso-Kano, pediatric consultant at the largest government-run
hospital in Kano. "And parents are to blame for that because they do not
care to immunise their children anymore."
He said "nothing short of" proper immunisation will work to prevent such
outbreaks.
The IFRC report on the latest outbreak said, "Due to poor hygiene and
sanitation conditions as well as the non acceptance of routine
immunisation, the situation has exacerbated."
aa/np/nr