Following the Diphtheria outbreak at Kings College, Lagos, a Consultant Psychiatrist, Stephen Oluwaniyi, has highlighted the need for psychosocial support to help students cope with the tension, fear, anxiety, and trauma caused by the outbreak.
Mr Oluwaniyi, also the Clinical Director, Federal Neuro-psychiatric Hospital Yaba, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Wednesday.
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NAN recalls that the recent Diphtheria outbreak at the Kings College Annex, Lagos, led to the death of one of the infected students, while others were taken to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) for treatment on Saturday.
NAN also recalls that the reports about the disease in the college started sometime in November/December 2024.
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Diphtheria is a bacterial infection caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae. It is a contagious disease that can spread quickly through contact with an infected person.
He said that the incident might result in some levels of negative emotional reactions among the students.
The psychiatrist explained that the students needed psychosocial support, in terms of close monitoring and counselling, to ease the fear/anxiety associated with the incident, especially losing their mate.
He said that psychosocial support could also be in the form of giving students the opportunity to express themselves, particularly their negative feelings, and he asked how the school’s facilities could be improved.
According to him, with the incidents, some of the students are bound to entertain fear, trauma, anxiety, and even depression, adding that some may be bitter, angry, and have nightmares staying in the school.
“There’s an urgent need for psychosocial support for the students because of the fear and anxiety of not only contacting the disease, but the grief and mourning from the loss of their fellow students,” he said.
“With the incident, there is already this fear and anxiety of ‘who is likely to contract the infection or who may be the next victim to die among the students.”
He added, “Similarly, there is a need to give the students the opportunity to express their negative feelings and equally monitor them closely to identify those who may develop acute stress reaction, depression or anxiety disorder.
“Such ones, if detected, should be brought to the services of a psychiatrist or psychotherapist, for further counseling and treatment, because if left untreated, can result to mental health condition.”
Another consultant psychiatrist, Veronica Nyamali, called for the serious education of the students on the symptoms, means of transmission, and best preventive measures for diphtheria disease.
Ms Nyamali, also a past Vice-President, Association of Psychiatrists of Nigeria (APN), said that the students should be made to understand that contraction of Diphtheria infection is never a “death sentence”, as some might presume.
READ ALSO: Kings College principal speaks after fatal Diphtheria outbreak
She said this education is necessary, aside from all other precautionary measures taken by the school management and the Lagos State Government to curb the spread, like good environmental sanitation, hygiene practices, constant hand washing with soap and running water, sanitisers, among others.
“It is imperative that the students undergo serious education and sensitisation about the disease, to be provided with the right information concerning what causes it, how it can be contracted and best preventive ways,” she said.
“This, I believe will go a long way in erasing the fears, speculations, anxiety and misconceptions already ongoing in the minds of the students.”
(NAN)
