CURBING DEATHS DURING LASSA FEVER OUTBREAKS

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Picture source: Vanguard Newspaper
THE death of two medical doctors and one nurse from Lassa fever in Ebonyi State once again highlights the need for decisive measures to strengthen the nation’s health system and proactively respond to disease outbreaks. The death of the health workers in the line of duty is particularly regrettable considering that even though there is no vaccine currently available, Lassa fever is preventable and treatable.
According to the University Graduates of Nursing Science Association, UGONSA, no less than 40 health workers have died of Lassa fever in Ebonyi State over the past 13 years. It is not uncommon for healthcare workers in health facilities to be particularly at risk of contracting Lassa fever, especially where infection prevention and control, IPC, procedures are not strictly adhered to. 

Humans become infected with the Lassa virus when they get exposed to urine and faeces of the carrier rodents. Person-to-person transmission also occurs under poor sanitary conditions. 

Healthcare practitioners are at risk if they fail to employ proper barrier nursing and infection control practices. Nigeria is grossly deficient in its response to the Lassa fever menace. Since early 2015 through most of 2017, Lassa fever outbreaks have been commonplace in the country. On December 20, 2016, the Nigeria Center for Disease Control, NCDC, confirmed a case of Lassa fever in a healthcare worker who had died at the Federal Medical Center, Abeokuta.



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