Lassa Fever Epidemic In Rivers … Nurse Dies, Six Others Infected

With the death last week Tuesday, of a nurse and six others clinically confirmed infected, Lassa Fever should be considered as an epidemic, said the Rivers State Commissioner of Health, Dr Sampson Parker.

Briefing newsmen in his office in Port Harcourt at the weekend, Dr Parker said  it was indeed true that the state is facing Lassa Fever challenges’ which can no longer be treated with kid gloves.

In view of its highly contagious nature and history of fatality, with one person already dead, and six others confirmed infected, Lassa Fever is an epidemic, the commissioner said.

He urged Rivers people and others who live and do business in the state to evolve improved hygienic living, avoid filth and contaminated food and report all feverish feelings to the nearest health centre or reputable private health facility nearest to them.

According to him, because the symptoms of Lassa Fever are so varied and non specific, clinical diagnoniss is often difficult, but added, the signs and symptoms typically occur in one-to-three weeks after the patient comes in contact with the virus.

He listed symptoms such as fever, retrosternal pain (pain behind the chest wall) sore throat, back pain, cough, abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, conjunctivitis (red eyes), facial swelling and mucosa; bleeding and advised against any self medication.

The commissioner assured that 110 primary health care centres spread across the 23 LGAs in the state have been equipped and supplied with the necessary medical needs required to contain the epidemic, and advised that prompt report of symptoms should be made to the nearest health facilities.

Dr Parker said that doctors and other medical personnel have been dispatched to all the functional public health facilities in the state, after adequate training and retraining on risk-free ways of tackling the scourge.

According to him, appropriate safe-guards have been put in place with the provision of surgical masks, sterilizing kits, preventive drugs and surgical gowns to prevent  possible infections while battling to save others lives.

The Tide research revealed that Lassa fever claimed its first ever casualties in Nigerian in 1969 when two missionary nurses died of the affliction in a town call Lassa in Borno State.excretions of an infected person.

Soye Wilson Jamabo

From Left: Chairman, Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS, President Goodluck Jonathan; President, ECOWAS Commission, Mr James Gbeho and Liberian President, Mrs Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, at the 40th Ordinary Session of the Authority in Abuja last Thursday.