Lassa Fever warnings,Symptoms,treatment and Prevention

With the recent outbreak of Lassa fever in the country, it is important for us to put in place preventive and control measures in our homes/offices most especially since reported cases has been confirmed in some regions. 

The Minister of Health , Prof Isaac Adewole issued a statement on Wednesday in Abuja in response to the outbreak of Lassa fever in the country in his statement he confirmed that the fever has spread into eight states namely : Bauchi, Nasarawa, Niger, Taraba, Kano, Rivers, Edo and Oyo. He added, “The total number of suspected cases so far reported is 80 with 40 deaths, and a Motality Rate of 43.2 per cent. “

What is Lassa fever?

Lassa fever or Lassa hemorrhagic fever (LHF) is an acute viral hemorrhagic fe-ver. It is similar to ebola and is caused by the Lassa virus found in rodents and first described in 1969 in the town of Lassa, in Borno State Nigeria.

Transmission

      Contact with urine or droppings of an infected rat

      Catching and preparing infected rats as bush meat.

      Direct contact with a sick person’s blood or body fluids, through mucous membranes, like eyes, nose, or mouth but this is rare.

Signs & Symptoms

      Headache

      Fever

      General body weakness and malaise

      Breathing difficulty

      Bleeding

      Nausea & vomiting

      Diarrheoa

      Chest pain, abdominal and back pain

      Shock

Treatment

v  Supportive care consisting of maintenance of appropriate fluid and electrolyte balance, oxygenation and blood pressure.

v  Antiviral drug (ribavirin) has been found to be successful in the treatment of Lassa fever patients.

Risk of exposure

v  Individuals at greatest risk of Lassa virus infection are those who live in or visit endemic regions, including Sierra Leone, Li-beria, Guinea, and Nigeria and have expo-sure to rodents.

Prevention

•   Appropriate handwashing techniques 
•   Good environmental hygiene
•   Appropriate refuse disposal
• Store food in rodent-proof containers
•  Avoid eating rodents
• Avoid contact with blood and body fluids of infected people
•  Healthcare workers should ensure appropriate protective mechanism while handling samples of sick per-sons.
•  Report any suspected cases of lassa fever to appropriate authorities’ especially for people with recent travels to affected states.

Complications

Some of the major complications includes;

      Hearing loss

      Tinnitus(ringing noise in the ear)

      Dizziness

      Vertigo

In conclusion 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.