By Binta Shama Abuja
Two patients treated for Lassa fever have died at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital in the last one week, with 100 workers under observation in connection with the disease, the Chief Medical Director, Professor Chris Bode has disclosed. Each of the two patients, according to the CMD, presented very late and died in spite of eff orts to salvage them, while a resident doctor (names withheld), is also reportedly infected. Professor Bode who disclosed this in a statement yesterday, said, “the fi rst was a 32-year-old pregnant lady with bleeding disorder who died after a stillbirth.
“Post-mortem examination had been conducted before her Lassa Fever status was eventually suspected and confi rmed. No less than 100 diff erent hospital workers exposed to this index case are currently being monitored. “A resident doctor from the Department of Anatomic and Molecular Pathology who took part in the autopsy, was later confi rmed with the disease and is currently on admission and responding well to treatment at the Isolation Ward of LUTH.” Bode, who visited the Isolation Centre of LUTH in company of his top management staff and spoke with the doctor and staff to boost morale, assured them of the hospital’s full support. He enjoined all LUTH workers to maintain a heightened level of alert in the wake of this new outbreak and “observe universal precautions in handling all suspected cases of this viral hemorrhagic fever.
” “Both the Lagos state Ministry of Health and the Federal Ministry of Health have responded swiftly to contain the outbreak by mobilising human and material resources to trace the sources and extent of the disease, follow up on potential contacts, identify early and test suspected cases. “Th ere are adequate materials for containment of the disease while drugs have been made available to treat anyone confi rmed with the disease. Th e Centre for Disease Control (CDC) in Nigeria has also been contacted. Two other suspected cases from Lagos state are also presently admitted and quarantined while undergoing confi rmatory laboratory tests.” Th e CMD further urged the public to report any suspected case of the disease to LUTH response team n 08058019466, 08058744780, 07035521015 and 08023299445.
