By Asmau Ahmad
The Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr Faisal Shuaib has said that almost 50 per cent of diarrhoea cases in children in Nigeria could be due to rotavirus, noting that the virus is quite common in the country.
He urged parents to take their children for vaccination against the rotavirus now that the vaccine is available in the country.
The rotavirus, the NPHCDA boss noted, is a common diarrhoea-causing virus responsible for the death of about 50,000 children under five in Nigeria.
Explaining how the rotavirus can be contracted, Dr. Shuaib said the virus can be picked up from surfaces, food, and water.
He noted that it is most common in children aged between three months to 35 months which is within the time they begin to play around and touch surfaces that might be contaminated, adding that once they touch a surface that has the virus, they can put it in their mouth and thus get infected.
He stated further after about two days after getting infected, the child will start having a fever, and start vomiting. Thereafter, they can start experiencing diarrhoea, he said.
He stated further that some of the manifestations of rotavirus in children are dehydration, weakness, crying without tears, and dry lips.
Speaking while appearing on a Nigerian Television Authority live programme on Wednesday morning, the NPHCDA boss said, “In actual fact, rotavirus disease is very common.
“When you see a child with diarrhoea, that is to say, watery stools, the chance is that it is caused by rotavirus as close to 50 per cent of the cases are due to the rotavirus disease.
“So, in a large number of cases that you see of children having diarrhoea, it is due to rotavirus. It is just that maybe we will not call it rotavirus disease, we will call it watery stool.
“It is a very common and highly infectious disease that occurs. It is quite common in Nigeria and responsible for up to 50,000 deaths in children under five in Nigeria.”
The NPHCDA boss noted that the introduction of the vaccine is a big deal as it would aid in the reduction of deaths arising from the virus.
Rotavirus is the leading cause of severe, dehydrating diarrhoea in children under the age of five. Rotaviruses are double-stranded RNA viruses of the genus Reoviridae, according to the World Health Organisation.
The vaccine is to be administered to children at 6, 10, and 14 weeks and according to the Nigerian Chief of Health, United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund, Dr. Eduardo Celades, the vaccine can be administered to children below the age of one.
Shuaib noted that the delay in the introduction of the vaccine into the nation’s routine immunisation was because Nigeria needed to ‘fulfil certain criteria and also attain the required routine immunisation coverage.’
“We have been able to see a justification for the introduction of the vaccine. It is a huge investment on the part of the government and our donors but it is a worthwhile investment,” he said.
On his part, the Acting Executive Secretary, FCT Primary HealthCare Board, also added that the rotavirus cannot be successfully treated with antibiotics hence, the reason for the introduction of the vaccine.
Also speaking on the TV programme, the UNICEF representative, Celades, noted that the newly introduced vaccine would be available for free in Nigeria starting Monday in the Northwest, north central, and northeast, adding that it will be available in the southern states next month.
He described the introduction of the rotavirus vaccine into the nation’s routine immunisation as “a landmark for the country.”
