Lara Adejoro
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has decried the diagnostic capabilities in many states, noting that they are weak.
The Director General of the NCDC, Dr Jide Idris, stated this during a press briefing in Abuja on Monday while giving an update on the 2024 cholera situation in the country.
He, however, said the Technical Working Group for cholera is working to support states in training their staff.
Cholera is a food and water-borne disease caused by ingesting the bacteria— Vibrio cholerae — in contaminated water and food. Cholera can cause severe acute watery diarrhoea, and the severe forms of the disease can kill within hours if left untreated.
In Nigeria, cholera is an endemic and seasonal disease, occurring annually mostly during the rainy season and more frequently in areas with poor sanitation.
Idris said, “What we’ve discovered is that diagnostic capabilities in many states, especially in laboratories, are very weak, and that’s why the Technical Working Group has advised that we intensify training of these staff, but these people operate in the states. And don’t forget, a lot of these cases are found in those states, they are states’ responsibilities, and our role is not to support them.
“A lot of our partners too are supporting them in training in the various states. There are many ways of diagnosing cholera. In most cases, they say you can confirm, but in our situation, if you wait to confirm, more people will die. So, there is what we call presumptive confirmation.
“If you do basic microscopy in your basic lab, you don’t even need the high-performing lab for this basic microscopy. If you are properly trained, you can detect that. Even if you look at the characteristics of the stool, it’s very characteristic. They call it rice water stool. It’s like when you boil rice halfway through, you want to see that fluid, that’s the colour of the rice water stool. So, even if you see that, you don’t necessarily have to fault it because these people are losing fluids, they are losing electrolytes, and that’s what kills.”
Giving updates on the cholera outbreak in the country, the NCDC boss stated that the country has recorded 1,528 suspected cases of cholera and 53 deaths in 31 states across 107 Local Government Areas so far.
He noted that Lagos, Bayelsa, Abia, Zamfara, Bauchi, Cross River, Ebonyi, Rivers, Katsina, Delta, Imo, Nasarawa, Ondo states, and three more states constitute 90 per cent of the burden of the infection.
On the number of deaths recorded from states, he listed, Lagos (29), Bayelsa (2), Abia (4), Cross River (1), Rivers (8), Katsina (3), Delta (4), Nasarawa (1), and Ondo (1).
Copyright PUNCH
All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.
Contact: health_wise@punchng.com
The post Cholera diagnostic capabilities weak in several states – NCDC appeared first on Healthwise.