Neonatal tetanus in Nigeria: a call to speed up elimination strategies

Abstract

Neonatal tetanus (NNT) is a vaccine preventable disease that is associated with high mortality rate. It is endemic in majority of the developing countries including Nigeria and has since been targeted for elimination by World Health Organization. Hospital based studies have reported varying mortality rates of NNT. For more than two years, no case of NNT was managed in our facility, Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Surulere, Lagos. However, within a period of two months, we managed three cases of NNT. We present the three cases of neonatal tetanus, collated the prevailing risk factors for NNT, highlighted challenges in their management and emphasized more efforts to sustain elimination of neonatal tetanus.