Diphtheria Kills 12-Year-Old Kings College Student, 14 Others Hospitalised
A 12-year-old student of Kings College, Victoria Island Annexe, Lagos State has died of diphtheria with 14 others
hospitalised.
This was confirmed by the Lagos State government on Monday.
According to authorities, 34 close contacts of the deceased have been identified, placing them under observation to monitor for symptoms of the bacterial infection.
In response to the outbreak, the Lagos State government has activated an Emergency Response Committee and announced plans to commence mass vaccination of schoolchildren on Monday.
The Commissioner for Health, Prof Akin Abayomi, urged residents to remain calm, assuring them that the situation was under control.
According to Abayomi, the index case was a 12-year-old boy who presented with a sore throat and fever at the school’s health facility on February 22.
He was immediately referred to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), where he was admitted to the pediatric emergency ward.
Despite receiving appropriate antibiotics and a full dose of diphtheria toxoid serum, the student succumbed to myocarditis, a severe and recognised complication of the infection, on March 6.
“Despite the timely intervention, the boy succumbed to progressive and irreversible inflammation of the heart (myocarditis), caused by the bacterial toxin,” Abayomi stated.
Of the 34 identified close contacts, 14 students have developed symptoms consistent with diphtheria and were promptly transferred to LUTH’s Children’s Emergency Unit for screening.
Medical examinations confirmed that 12 of them had early signs of the disease, and they were immediately placed on treatment, receiving antibiotics and diphtheria antitoxin serum.
As of now, no new cases had emerged, and all 14 symptomatic students were reported to be recovering under close medical supervision.
Abayomi explained that a preliminary inspection of Kings College Annexe by health officials uncovered areas where infection prevention and control (IPC) measures needed to be improved and that process would commence immediately.
Sodiq Yusuf is a trained media practitioner and journalist with considerable years of experience in print, broadcast, and digital journalism. His interests cover a wide range of causes in politics, governance, sports, community development, and good governance.
