The federal government has deployed an emergency multi-agency task force to strengthen surveillance, close immunisation gaps and expand access to treatment following diphtheria outbreaks in Kano and Katsina states.

Ado Bako, an Assistant Director in the Information and Public Relations Department of the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, disclosed this in a statement on Friday.

According to the statement, the Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Pate, directed the establishment of the task force as part of efforts to protect children and strengthen Nigeria’s capacity to prevent and respond to disease outbreaks.

“The federal government reaffirms its resolve to protect Nigerian children from vaccine preventable diseases and remains committed to a swift, coordinated and evidence based response to bring the outbreak under control,” the statement said.

The development follows reports of deaths among children in Rano Local Government Area of Kano State.

On Wednesday, a lawmaker in the Kano State House of Assembly raised the alarm over a severe diphtheria outbreak in the area and called for urgent intervention.

Diphtheria

Diphtheria is a serious and highly contagious bacterial infection caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae.

The infection spreads mainly through respiratory droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes, as well as through close contact with an infected person.

Common symptoms include fever, sore throat and the development of a thick grey or white membrane in the throat, which can obstruct breathing. Severe cases can cause complications such as heart and nerve damage.

Vaccination with diphtheria toxoid containing vaccines, including the pentavalent vaccine routinely administered to infants, remains the most effective protection against the disease.

Nigeria has recorded more than 40,000 suspected diphtheria cases and over 1,000 deaths since the outbreak began in 2022.

Multi agency response

The newly established task force will coordinate the federal and state response and comprises the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), affected state governments and international health partners.

The committee will be jointly led by the Director General of the NCDC and the Director of Public Health, who will serve as co chairs.

Its members include representatives of the NPHCDA; health commissioners from Katsina, Kano, Zamfara and Sokoto states; the World Health Organisation (WHO); the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF); and the National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control Programme in Katsina.

The ministry’s chief epidemiologist will serve as secretary of the committee.

Vaccination and treatment

The task force will focus on containing the outbreak by investigating cases, strengthening disease surveillance and intensifying community sensitisation.

It will also work to identify and immunise children who have not received the required vaccines, particularly in communities where immunity gaps may be contributing to the spread of the disease.

As part of the immediate response, the NPHCDA has deployed 500,000 doses of vaccines to Kano and Katsina states.

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Beyond vaccination, the task force is working with the Katsina State government to establish hospital treatment annexes across the Katsina, Daura and Funtua senatorial districts.

The annexes are expected to facilitate early treatment and bring care closer to affected communities.

Emergency support is also being mobilised for referral services at the Federal Teaching Hospital in Katsina, which serves as the primary treatment centre for the state and neighbouring areas.

The support includes supplies of diphtheria antitoxin (DAT), intravenous antibiotics, additional clinical personnel and personal protective equipment (PPE).

The task force will provide the minister with weekly updates on the response, including emerging challenges and additional requirements, to ensure that identified bottlenecks are promptly addressed.

Xylitol, a sugar alcohol added to foods, beverages and oral care products as a sweetener, has been linked to an increased risk of stroke and heart attack, a new study has found.

The sweetener is commonly found in products such as chewing gum, toothpaste, jam, yoghurt and ice cream.

This was revealed in a press release published by the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) ahead of their annual congress in Munich, Germany, which runs from 28 to 31 August.

Researchers found that people with higher levels of xylitol in their blood had a greater risk of major cardiovascular events – defined as death, heart attack or stroke, compared with those with the lowest levels.

According to the ESC, the study examined data from 17,710 participants in two prospective observational studies: the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Ageing and the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer-Norfolk.

Over six years of follow-up in the Canadian study, the risk of a major cardiovascular event was 57 per cent higher among participants with the highest xylitol levels, while the risk was 18 per cent higher over 30 years in the European study.

“Taken together with data from the middle quartiles, the results from both cohorts suggested a dose-dependent relationship: the higher the xylitol blood levels, the higher the cardiovascular event rate,” it noted.

What is xylitol?

Xylitol is a sugar alcohol that occurs naturally in the body as a byproduct of glucose metabolism and is present in some natural foods in very small amounts.

It is also added to foods, beverages and oral care products as a sweetener, sometimes in amounts more than 1,000 times higher than naturally occurring levels, according to the ESC.

Marco Witkowski of Charite University Hospital, Berlin, Germany, who is presenting the research, said previous studies had shown that xylitol could enhance the ability of blood platelets to form clots.

“Artificial sweeteners are consumed by people who think they are healthier than sugar and they are generally regarded as safe by regulatory agencies,” Mr Witkowski was quoted to have said.

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He said the long-term findings highlighted “how little we know about the cardiovascular safety of xylitol” and indicated that further studies were needed, particularly as the amount of xylitol used in products continues to increase.

Dan Atar, a member of the ESC Communication Committee, said the findings suggested a negative long-term effect of xylitol on cardiovascular events.

Mr Atar, however, cautioned that the study is observational.

“As with all observational studies, casualties are difficult to infer, but this work shows that further studies are mandated into this societally important topic,” he said.