Yellow fever poses a risk to 160 million Nigerians

160 million Nigerians, according to the World Health Organization, are at risk for yellow fever.
According to the WHO, with a population of around 200 million, Nigeria accounts for about 25% of all Africans at risk.
Acute viral hemorrhagic disease called yellow fever is spread by infected mosquitoes.
The name’s “yellow” component alludes to the jaundice that some patients experience.
Yellow fever symptoms include fever, headache, jaundice, muscle aches, nauseousness, vomiting, and exhaustion.
The Medical Officer, WHO Nigeria, Dr. Anne Eudes Jean Baptiste, said, “Yellow fever is dangerous because a small percentage of patients will go through a more toxic phase of the disease. By then, they will experience fever, have system failure, mainly in the kidney and liver. They may experience bleeding coming from the mouth, nose and eyes and within 7 to 10 days, half of them will die.”
Nigeria, according to the WHO, is at danger of contracting the disease in both urban areas and sylvan (jungle) areas.
Yellow fever is spread by sylvatic exposure by mosquitoes that have bitten non-human primates and animals.
These types of transmission are particularly dangerous for agricultural and mining workers.
After 15 years, yellow fever made a comeback in Nigeria in 2017. The cyclical nature of sylvatic transmission and gaps in disease detection rather than a lack of virus transmission are to blame for this. A better understanding of the disease’s distribution in humans is now possible because to increased monitoring and laboratory testing.
However, the international health organization said that during the COVID-19 pandemic, Nigeria vaccinated almost 45 million individuals against yellow fever.
According to The PUNCH, Nigeria has so far in 2022 tallied 1,005 suspected cases of yellow fever.
In 390 Local Government Areas throughout 36 states, including the FCT, instances were reported.
The disease is under closer supervision, according to Dr. Ifedayo Adetifa, Director General of the Nigeria Center for Disease Control.
“We have reference laboratories in the country that have been strengthened, and are being supported and assessed to make sure they are meeting all the performance parameters in terms of sample collection and referral to our reference labs in Abuja.
“Despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we have given out over 66 million doses in 2020 and 2021 to protect people from yellow fever outbreaks. This achievement has been possible through routine immunization, as well as mass vaccination campaigns that identify gaps in the population and proactively target vulnerable communities,” he said.

GOGAN Media.