Review Article

Resurgence of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases in Nigeria: Epidemiological Trends, Immunization Gaps, and Public Health Implications

Abstract

Despite decades of immunization programming and major disease-control achievements, Nigeria continues to experience recurrent outbreaks and persistent transmission of vaccinepreventable diseases (VPDs). This narrative review critically synthesizes contemporary evidence on the epidemiological patterns of major VPDs in Nigeria, the distribution and determinants of immunization gaps, and their public health implications. Evidence from epidemiological studies, population-based analyses, outbreak investigations, and authoritative surveillance and programmatic sources was integrated thematically. Recent measles, diphtheria, circulating vaccine derived poliovirus type 2, yellow fever, and meningococcal disease activity demonstrates that national disease-control achievements coexist with substantial subnational susceptibility. The evidence indicates that this pattern is driven less by uniformly inadequate national coverage than by geographically and socially concentrated populations of zero-dose and under-immunized children. These immunity gaps reflect interacting vulnerabilities, including socioeconomic disadvantage, geographic inaccessibility, gender-related constraints, population mobility, insecurity, vaccine-confidence challenges, missed vaccination opportunities, unreliable service delivery, and weaknesses in primary healthcare and surveillance. Their consequences extend beyond preventable morbidity and mortality to repeated emergency vaccination campaigns, health-system resource demands, household and societal costs, and cross-border health security concerns. This review argues that recurrent outbreaks should be interpreted as signals of underlying failures to establish and sustain equitable population immunity. An integrated immunizationresilience framework—Detect, Map, Reach, Build Trust, Vaccinate, Retain, Monitor, and Respond—is proposed to connect surveillance, targeted service delivery, community partnership, and routine immunization strengthening. Sustainable VPD control in Nigeria will require a transition from episodic outbreak response towards equity-oriented, data-driven, community-engaged, and resilient routine immunization capable of preventing the recurrent accumulation of susceptible populations. 

Authors affiliation:

Emmanuel Toochukwu Ogbodo (ORCID): Department of Public Health Sciences, Rivers State University, Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
Timilehin Daniel Olufemi (ORCID): Department of Public Health Sciences, Rivers State University, Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
Yemisi Omobolanle Ajayi (ORCID): Department of Community Medicine, Rivers State University, Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
Chinwe Ofoegbu (ORCID): Department of Public Health Sciences, Rivers State University, Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

How To Cite: E.T. Ogbodo, T.D. Olufemi, Y.O. Ajayi and C. Ofoegbu. Resurgence of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases in Nigeria: Epidemiological Trends, Immunization Gaps, and Public Health Implications. Infectious, 3(2):7–19, 2026. https://doi.org/10.58612/infectious322