08 Sep Yellow Fever kills 3 in Nigeria, others hospitalised; over 70 cases in the past year.
At least three people have died following an outbreak of yellow fever in Bauchi State last week.
The Executive Chairman of the State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Rilwanu Mohammed, confirmed this during an interview with Channels TV on Saturday, 7th of September.
“In Bauchi State, we have been trying to follow up with the case of yellow fever which started two weeks ago and we have three confirmed deaths”, The Exec. Chairman said, noting that as at Saturday, there were 23 other suspected cases currently being investigated at Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital in Bauchi.
Yellow fever a is potentially fatal viral infection transmitted by a bite from infected mosquitoes most commonly found in South America and Africa. When transmitted to humans, the virus can damage the liver and other internal organs.
The Yellow fever cases in Nigeria have been steadfast. In this year alone, Nigerian clinics have collectively recorded over 100 suspected Yellow Fever cases. The latest being Bauchi.
Although the disease is vaccine-preventable, (a single shot protects for a lifetime), many Nigerians don’t have access to the vaccine. Rilwanu Mohammed admitted that though the government is working to contain the spread of the virus, they don’t have enough vaccines to protect everyone.
Nigeria’s over 100 million poor people suffer similar ordeals every day. The lack of adequate or free medical aid discourages hospital visits and drives people who can’t afford medical care to unsupervised (often dangerous) medicine alternatives.
Hospital visits for anything; from a broken bone to childbirth, is a rarity in some parts of Nigeria. Because medical practitioners are the ones best equipped with information about the right vaccines for children, parents are often unaware of how to protect their children from preventable diseases like Yellow Fever.
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