The health authorities could do more to contain the viral disease
Early last year, Lassa fever ravaged many states across the nation. Since December 2016, the nation is again increasingly under the scourge. Dr. Chikwe Ihekwazu, Director General of the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said recently that the outbreak was not yet an epidemic. But number of deaths is pointing in that direction.
At the last count, more than 40 deaths have been recorded in seven states including Ogun, Ebonyi, Bauchi, Nasarawa, Plateau and Taraba, while new cases of infections have been discovered in others like Ondo and Edo. We hope the authority will act quickly to contain the spread.
Lassa fever has been a serious challenge for the country’s health authorities since it was first diagnosed in Lassa (the village for which it was named) in Borno State in 1969. While there have been efforts in the past to contain the scourge, it resurfaced in epidemic proportions late 2015 and spread through Bauchi to 17 other states including Nasarawa, Niger, Taraba, Kano, Rivers, Edo, Oyo and Lagos. About 100 patients died of the disease. “The Nigerian government will continue to enhance its surveillance and social health education, information and communication activities to prevent the disease from spreading further in Nigeria,” said Prof. Isaac Adewole at the time.
The resurgence of the deadly viral disease is a failure of the measures to contain it. From what happened at the Federal Medical Centre, Abeokuta, where the disease killed a nurse and her patient, even simple tests were not carried out to confirm the nature of the ailment before complications set in. The nurse was treated for malaria. “Because she was a nurse, they never thought of Lassa fever”, said Adewole. “Even if the patient is a bishop, it (the disease) can be Lassa fever. When we launched malaria programme, we said nobody should treat malaria without diagnosis.”
Lassa fever is a viral disease transmitted when a human comes into contact with an infected rat’s feces, urine, or the bodily fluids of an infected human. These rats are often found in human homes. Transmission through contaminated food is common, as the rats can leave excretions in food stores. The infection, in some cases, has no noticeable impact while it could be fatal in others.
The Centre for Disease Control estimates that in 20 per cent of Lassa cases, patients suffer a “severe multisystem disease”. The symptoms of the fever, often with incubation period of six to 21 days, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) are gradual, “starting with fever, general weakness, and malaise. After a few days, headache, sore throat, muscle pain, chest pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, cough, and abdominal pain may follow”.
Fortunately, Nigeria has the capability to diagnose Lassa fever and the laboratories have confirmed all the cases reported so far. Lassa fever is treated with an antiviral drug called Ribavirin. However, because the symptoms of Lassa fever could be so varied and non-specific, experts say clinical diagnosis is often difficult, especially early in the course of the disease. For that reason, steps should be taken to direct all health facilities in the country to emphasise routine infection prevention and control measures. Family members and healthcare workers should be advised to avoid contact with blood and body fluids while caring for sick persons.
This is the time to internalise all the lessons learnt from the way and manner in which the Ebola scourge was handled in our country. While members of the public are advised to keep their environment clean, healthcare workers are enjoined to immediately contact the epidemiologist in the State Ministry of Health or call the Federal Ministry of Health on seeing any patient suspected to have the fever.
