Lassa Fever Kills The Doctor That Treats The Lassa Patient

It was reported that the so-called stubborn Lassa fever has killed a medical doctor in Bauchi State after treating a patient who had the virus, while eight other doctors are on danger list after contracting the disease.

 

Meanwhile, the state Primary Healthcare Development Agency has warned citizens to take proactive measures to protect themselves from the disease.

 

Chairman of the agency, Dr. Nisser Ali Umar, who gave the warning in Bauchi on Friday, said the agency had embarked on sensitisation exercise to educate the citizens on the dangers of the disease.

He said: “The disease is deadly and infectious, the medical doctor was infected after he treated a victim who had the virus and became infected and died.”

 

According to him, eight other medical doctors were also infected by the disease after they had treated a pregnant woman who also had the virus. Umar said the state had recorded seven confirmed cases of Lassa fever between 2012 to March 2013 and with only one death so far.

 

He explained that the federal and state governments had taken adequate steps to address the menace of the disease.

 

“The vulnerable victims that suffered from the disease were people who eat rats or those with rat's urine in their food and they ate the food. The symptoms of the disease include fever that comes with signs like bloody diarrhea, bleeding from the gums and bleeding in the eyes and urine,” he explained.

 

The chairman advised people with suspected cases to report to the nearest hospital for treatment, adding that the affected communities were sensitised to ensure proper storage of their food in rodent proof containers, trapping and killing rodents with proper and safe disposal of the carcasses, to avoid rodent as a food source and to ensure proper personal hygiene.

 

Additionally, Dr. Umar said government had distributed Ribavirin tablets and prophylaxis tablets to the affected medical doctors and patients while assured people of the readiness of the state Lassa Fever Response Committee set up by the agency to assist the patients.

 

He commended the Federal Ministry of Health for providing Ribavirin tablets and enough personal protective equipment to healthcare providers in the state to prevent Nosocomial infection.