The Chief Medical Director, Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Dr Wasiu Adeyemo, has said pupils of King’s College, Annex, Lagos, infected with diphtheria and brought into the facility on Saturday for treatment will soon be discharged.

Mr Adeyemo disclosed this during an interview on Thursday in Lagos.

Recall that there was a recent diphtheria outbreak at the King’s College Annex, Lagos, which led to the demise of one of the affected pupils, while other affected pupils were taken to LUTH for treatment on Saturday. The disease started in the college sometime in November/December 2024.

 Diphtheria is a bacterial infection caused by corynebacterium diphtheriae. It is a contagious disease that can spread quickly through contact with an affected person.

Mr Adeyemi said that the pupils had been confirmed medically fit to be discharged.

The CMD, who admitted that the pupils were still in the hospital despite their fitness, said that the hospital still wanted to further monitor their health condition to ensure that everything was normalised before discharging them. 

According to him, as soon as the extra monitoring is completed, which will not take any longer time, the pupils will be discharged to go home.

“The health condition of the diphtheria affected boys under our care has improved, as they are now fit to go and will soon be discharged. Despite their present sound health, they are still in LUTH because the hospital still wants to further observe their health condition. This is to be sure that everything has normalised and there won’t be any issue or case of relapse even after they leave the hospital,” Mr Adeyemo stated.

 Regarding their medical bills, the CMD explained that the bills would be jointly paid by the Lagos State Government, school management, pupils’ parents and the hospital.

 According to him, payment of the medical bills will not be an issue, saying that what matters is to ensure that the pupils have adequately recovered and are back on their feet.

,Mr Adeyemo, therefore, advised that the pupils, school management, parents and the general public should not relent in taking precautionary measures to prevent contraction and spread of the disease.

Mr Adeyemo, urged the school and parents to give the students all the necessary support needed to aid their recovery, stressing that good hygiene practices were key to preventing contraction of diphtheria infection.

 He said, “For the students’ medical bills, it is  going to be jointly undertaken by the four major stakeholders featured in the incident, which comprise the Lagos State Government, school management, parents and LUTH.”

(NAN)