Father narrates how Diphtheria killed his 5 children in eight days

Ibrahim Yusuf, a resident of Kano State, has recounted how five of his children died within eight days due to suspected diphtheria in the past few days.

The man, who hails from Danbare part of the Kano metropolis, said his nightmare started a week ago when his children fell sick with fever.

He said he initially took them to Kabuga Primary Healthcare Centre, but as their conditions worsened, they were referred to the Infectious Diseases Hospital (IDH), the facility designated by the state government to manage diphtheria cases.

According to him, two of his children died on the same Monday, about 40 minutes apart.

“They told us it was diphtheria. They admitted them, but two of them died the same day,” he said.

Yusuf said three other children subsequently developed similar symptoms and were also admitted to the IDH.

“On Tuesday night, another child died, while on Wednesday, two more also died, bringing the total deaths in my house to five within eight days,” he said.

Recounting the deaths, he said one of the children died on Tuesday night and was buried the following morning, while another died at about 10am on Wednesday and was buried at noon.

He said the third child died at about 5pm on Wednesday and was buried at 8am the following day.

The grieving father identified the deceased as Sadiq, 13; Aisha, seven; Zainab, seven; Umar, six; and Aliyu, one year and six months old.

“They all died in quick succession,” he said.

Yusuf, who has 11 children, said the tragedy had left his family devastated.

He also claimed to have seen several corpses being taken away from the hospital, suggesting that the outbreak was affecting many families.

“Honestly, I saw many bodies being taken away. I cannot count them, but people are dying in the hospital almost every day. In our neighbourhood too, another man lost his child. There are many cases,” he said.

He appealed to the authorities to intensify efforts to contain the disease.

“We are calling on the government to stop this outbreak before it spreads further. Every day people are dying. Our plea is for them to act quickly,” he said.

Daily Trust observed health officials administering diphtheria vaccines to children in the area, with more than 400 children reportedly vaccinated.

Health officials in Kano have repeatedly warned about the spread of diphtheria and urged residents to get vaccinated and seek early medical attention when symptoms occur.

Efforts to obtain the position of the Kano State Centre for Disease Control (KNCDC) were unsuccessful.

When our reporter visited the agency’s headquarters, he was informed that its Director-General, Prof. Muhammad Adamu Abbas, was not available.

Several calls to his telephone were neither answered nor returned, while text messages sent to him had not received a response as of press time.

However, a staff member of the agency, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media, confirmed the five deaths and said the number of deaths recorded at the health facility was increasing.

Earlier in August, the lawmaker representing Rano Constituency in the Kano State House of Assembly, Ibrahim Muhammad, raised concern over the situation, claiming that at least 50 children had died in his constituency.

Residents, however, said the actual figure could be higher because some deaths occurred at home and were not reported to health authorities.

The KNCDC disputed the figure, saying only two deaths had been officially confirmed in the local government.

The agency also said Kano State had recorded more than 38,000 suspected diphtheria cases since the outbreak began in 2022, with more than 31,000 confirmed.