An analysis of NCDC data in the last five years shows that 197 healthcare workers contracted Lassa fever in Nigeria.
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“I battled with Lassa fever for good 29 days in all,” he said, adding that he observed at the isolation centre that healthcare workers are especially susceptible due to the close contact they have with patients. It’s essential to acknowledge that news production incurs expenses, and we take pride in never placing our stories behind a prohibitive paywall.
According to the disease control centre, as of 28 April, a total of 32 healthcare workers have been affected by the rampaging disease in the current year, out of a total of 5,963 suspected cases, 857 confirmed cases, and 156 deaths. Among 386 healthcare workers selected using a stratified random sampling technique, the study found that respondents who had previous training in IPC were 1.9 times more knowledgeable than others.
Of the 400 healthcare workers who participated in the study, 51.8 per cent demonstrated inadequate Lassa Fever knowledge, with 62.9 per cent of those scoring low having a high self-perception of their Lassa fever knowledge on the global scale. “I was still at the intensive care unit when the index of suspicion was raised that it was Lassa fever case, and the samples were confirmed positive at a specialist hospital,” Mrs Suleiman told PREMIUM TIMES.
Mrs Adekunle initially started with anti-malaria, then proceeded with antibiotics when she wasn’t relieved of the fever and joint pains. In a recent documentary by Breakthrough Action Nigeria, a USAID-funded project, Jacob Mtsenem, a male surgical unit nurse at Benue State University Teaching Hospital, narrated how he survived Lassa fever after a colleague died from it due to a late diagnosis.
On 10 January 2022, a doctor with the World Health Organisation , Samuel Nyityo, lost his life in Benue State to Lassa fever.In January, NCDC activated an Emergency Operations Centre for Lassa fever following a risk assessment that placed the country at “high risk” of increased Lassa fever transmission.
Mr Adewole said Lassa fever is of public health importance because of its high morbidity and mortality, emphasising that “healthcare workers should have a high index of suspicion on diagnosis and management of the virus.” To prevent the disease, Mr Adewole said Public health Emergency Operation Centres operations across affected states should be optimal for effective prevention and control of Lassa fever.
In April 2024, participants at HJF Medical Research International in Abuja, Nigeria, were vaccinated in the first Phase 2 clinical trial of a Lassa fever virus vaccine candidate to date, according to IAVI, a non-profit scientific research organisation and the trial sponsor.More than 600 participants in Ghana, Liberia, and Nigeria are expected to enrol in the IAVI-sponsored trial, funded by CEPI.
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