By Maduabuchi Nmeribeh/Kano
Kano State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Abubakar Labaran Yusuf, has urged residents of the state to maintain social distance as part of measures to curb the spread of diphtheria in the state.
He cautioned Kano residents against unnecessary social gathering, in a Statament signed by Ibrahim Abdullahi, Information Officer in the Ministry of Health.
He said the Ministry will keep sensitizing people on the imperativeness of sticking to the precaution measures by all with a view to diminish the spread of diphtheria in Kano state.
According to him, “diphtheria is an air borne disease, therefore any person suspected to have contracted the disease or have serious symptoms of catarrh such person should henceforth be isolated and referred to health facility.”
He further stated that, “suspected persons shouldn’t mingle with healthy individuals coughing, sneezing and shaking hands. These are the major ways of transmitting the disease.
” If it was a child that is infected, his parents shouldn’t allow him to go to the school and hasten be taken to hospital proper medical attention through conducting relevant diagnostic tests so as to ascertain if there is the presence of diphtheria or not. Doing that will assist immeasurably in curtailing the spread of the disease among other children.”
The Commissioner warned people to desist from needless gatherings, especially as harmattan is fast approaching, a situation where diphtheria hits to its peak.
He added that, “if the gathering is imperative, it shouldn’t be indoor where there is no adequate ventilation. It should rather be in an open place with strict observance of facemask usage, because it helps filtering viruses that one may inhale.’
Dr. Labaran revealed that the most important protection against diphtheria is vaccination and called on parents to ensure their children of between four to 14 years are fully vaccinated three times sequentially, one after every four weeks, so that their body become fully protected.
“If a child is confirmed infected with the diphtheria, all his family members must be vaccinated without considering their age bracket and gender. Even their neighbours have to also be vaccinated for them not to get infected with the diphtheria,” he added.