Lagos State government on Wednesday, confirmed the death of
another patient of Lassa fever, saying the deceased, a 27-year- old lady, died
on Tuesday, a few hours after been admitted into Ijede General Hospital, having
traversed one private hospital and three churches before she was referred to
the government hospital on January 23, 2016.
Commissioner for Health, Dr Jide Idris, disclosed this to Nigerian Tribune during a joint press briefing, with the Commissioner for Information, Mr Steve Ayorinde, among others.
The commissioner said so far, Lagos State had recorded 20 suspected cases of Lassa fever as of January 26, 2016, since the outbreak of the disease in the country last November, disclosing that the ministry had line-listed 537 contacts of the confirmed cases and 534, amounting to 99 per cent of the contacts were currently being monitored.
“Fourteen (14) suspected cases tested negative, four (4) suspected cases were confirmed positive of Lassa fever, while the results of three (3) suspected cases are pending. One (1) case was confirmed on January 15, 2016, two (2) cases were confirmed on January 18, 2016 and one (1) case was confirmed on January 26, 2016,” Dr Idris said.
Giving the circumstance that led to the death of the latest victim, the commissioner said the affected lady had travelled to Edo State for the burial of her relation, who had died of Lassa fever and returned to Lagos on January 2, 2016.
Commissioner for Health, Dr Jide Idris, disclosed this to Nigerian Tribune during a joint press briefing, with the Commissioner for Information, Mr Steve Ayorinde, among others.
The commissioner said so far, Lagos State had recorded 20 suspected cases of Lassa fever as of January 26, 2016, since the outbreak of the disease in the country last November, disclosing that the ministry had line-listed 537 contacts of the confirmed cases and 534, amounting to 99 per cent of the contacts were currently being monitored.
“Fourteen (14) suspected cases tested negative, four (4) suspected cases were confirmed positive of Lassa fever, while the results of three (3) suspected cases are pending. One (1) case was confirmed on January 15, 2016, two (2) cases were confirmed on January 18, 2016 and one (1) case was confirmed on January 26, 2016,” Dr Idris said.
Giving the circumstance that led to the death of the latest victim, the commissioner said the affected lady had travelled to Edo State for the burial of her relation, who had died of Lassa fever and returned to Lagos on January 2, 2016.
According to him, she became ill on January 14 and received
care in one private hospital and three churches before she was referred on
January 23, 2016 to Ijede General Hospital with fever, vomiting, diarrhoea and
body weakness.
He said the patient died within a few hours of admission, adding that the remains of the deceased had been kept in the morgue in leak proof body bag.
Idris said the deceased would be buried after due consultation with her family, adding that 90 persons had been line-listed as contacts of the last confirmed case and contact tracing was on-going.
The commissioner said several ways by which people could contact the dreaded disease, include ingestion of foods and drinks contaminated by the saliva, urine and faeces of infected rats, catching and preparing infected rats and food, having direct contact with a sick person’s blood or body fluids, through mucous membranes, like eyes, nose or mouth, said vigorous sensitisation of the members of the public were on-going by his ministry.
According to Dr Idris, people at greater risk of infection with Lassa fever include families and friends of an infected person in the course of feeding, holding and caring for them, and the health workers who had attended to infected persons.
He urged Lagosians to join hands in prevention of the dreaded disease by observing a high level of personal and environmental hygiene, ensuring proper environmental sanitation by using appropriate methods of collection and disposal of waste, and avoiding open defecation.
Dr Idris also enjoined them to wash their hands properly before and after cooking of foods, eliminate rats from dwellings, avoid consumption of rat meat, protect food items from rodents by storing them in plastics containers with covers, while he equally tasked Lagosians to cover all foods and water, including left-overs.
He called on all health workers to have high index of suspicion in cases with high fever not responding to treatment, especially those with positive history of contact with infected person and adhere strictly to infection control measures while providing health care to the people.
He said the patient died within a few hours of admission, adding that the remains of the deceased had been kept in the morgue in leak proof body bag.
Idris said the deceased would be buried after due consultation with her family, adding that 90 persons had been line-listed as contacts of the last confirmed case and contact tracing was on-going.
The commissioner said several ways by which people could contact the dreaded disease, include ingestion of foods and drinks contaminated by the saliva, urine and faeces of infected rats, catching and preparing infected rats and food, having direct contact with a sick person’s blood or body fluids, through mucous membranes, like eyes, nose or mouth, said vigorous sensitisation of the members of the public were on-going by his ministry.
According to Dr Idris, people at greater risk of infection with Lassa fever include families and friends of an infected person in the course of feeding, holding and caring for them, and the health workers who had attended to infected persons.
He urged Lagosians to join hands in prevention of the dreaded disease by observing a high level of personal and environmental hygiene, ensuring proper environmental sanitation by using appropriate methods of collection and disposal of waste, and avoiding open defecation.
Dr Idris also enjoined them to wash their hands properly before and after cooking of foods, eliminate rats from dwellings, avoid consumption of rat meat, protect food items from rodents by storing them in plastics containers with covers, while he equally tasked Lagosians to cover all foods and water, including left-overs.
He called on all health workers to have high index of suspicion in cases with high fever not responding to treatment, especially those with positive history of contact with infected person and adhere strictly to infection control measures while providing health care to the people.
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