The
Commissioner for Health in Plateau, Dr Kunden Deyin, said the state recorded
four deaths, while laboratory tests confirmed five cases of Lassa fever since
December 2016.
According to
the commissioner, 80 per cent of the mortality rate was due to late
presentation of patients to health care facilities.
“The
mortality rate is as high as 80 per cent; the reason is that people are
reporting very late, Lassa fever is best managed when patients start taking the
drug within the first week of contracting the disease,” Deyin said.
“The
symptoms are similar to that of malaria such as nausea, body weakness and joint
pains; it is at advanced stage that symptoms such as bleeding from the eyes,
nose, mouth or private part occur.”
The
commissioner, who said that getting the drug for the management of Lassa fever
was difficult as it was not readily sold in the open market, added that the
state was trying to access the drugs from the Federal Ministry of Health.
He explained that when a patient
had symptoms of malaria and was treated for it and was still not getting
better, further investigation should be carried out to ascertain if was Lassa
fever.
Lassa fever
is transmitted through the urine and excreta of rats which serve as reservoir
for the Lassa virus and the rodent is usually attracted to dirty and flirty
environment.
The ministry
said the importance of keeping clean environment to ensure that foods are
stored in rodent-proof containers and to desist from drying food items on the
roadside since rats can urinate and defecate in them.
No comments:
Post a Comment