From.Desmond Mgboh, Kano
Kano State government has advised residents to shun unnecessary gathering as part of measures to protect themselves and others against diphtheria infection.
The State Commissioner for Health, Abubakar Labaran Yusuf stated this on Tuesday, in a press statement to media organizations in the state.
He stressed that where the gathering had become imperative, such a gathering should not be conducted indoors where ventilation is low, adding that it should be set in an open space with strict use of facemask .
The Commissioner observed that diphtheria is an air borne disease while advising that any person suspected to have contracted it or have serious symptoms of catarrh should be isolated and subsequently referred to the nearest health facility.
He identified coughing, sneezing and handshake as some of the major ways and manners of transmitting the disease from one person to another.
The Commissioner appealed to parents of infected children to disallow them from going to school until they had been attended to by medicalexperts,
On the contrary, he stated that they should take them to hospitals for proper medical attention adding that doing so will curtail the spread of the disease among other children.
Yusuf revealed that the most effective protection against diphtheria is to be vaccinated,,hence he called on parents to ensure at their children of between 4 to 14 years were fully vaccinated against the virus. End.
