Dr Jide Idris, the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, on Wednesday confirmed the death of a 27-year-old Lassa fever patient in one of the General Hospitals in the state. Idris, in a statement issued in Lagos, said, “The case was confirmed as Lassa fever on January 26.”
According to him, a 27-year-old lady travelled to Edo on December 24, 2015 and returned to Lagos on January 2. “She became ill on Jan. 14, and received care in one private hospital and three churches before she was referred on January 23 to Ijede General Hospital with fever, vomiting, diarrhoea and body weakness.” “The patient died within a few hours of admission.”
“The remains of the patient have been kept in the morgue in leak-proof body bag.” “She is to be buried after due consultation with her family.” “Ninety people have been line-listed as contacts of the last confirmed case as at Jan. 26 and contact tracing is ongoing,” the commissioner said.
He said that Lagos had recorded 20 suspected cases of Lassa fever as at Jan. 26 since its outbreak in Nigeria in November, 2015. Idris said in the statement that of the 20 suspected cases, 14 tested negative, four were confirmed positive of Lassa fever while results of two suspected cases were still pending.
He said that one case was confirmed on January 15, two cases on January 18, while another case was confirmed on January 26. The commissioner said that the ministry had line-listed 537 contacts of the confirmed cases, adding that 534 (99 per cent) of the contacts were currently being monitored.
He, however, urged residents to observe basic environmental sanitation, including proper disposal of refuse, personal hygiene, adequate nutrition while avoiding open defecation and spitting. The commissioner urged the public to report suspected cases to the nearest public health facility or notify the ministry through the available lines.
“The state government will continue to provide quality, affordable and accessible healthcare to the good people of the state toward achieving universal healthcare,” he said.
The media reports that the first case of Lassa fever was diagnosed at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH),Idi-Araba, on January 15. It was a case of a 25-year-old student of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, (names withheld) who had contracted the virus before coming to visit his parents at Ifako-Ijaiye area of Lagos.
Prof. Christopher Bode, Chief Medical Director (CMD) of LUTH, had said: “He was admitted in a private hospital at Ifako-Ijaiye on January 9 and was transferred to LUTH on January 15 on account of developing symptoms of fever, sore throat and body ache.
“The patient is responding to treatment at the isolation ward.”
