144 die of Lassa fever in Nigeria – NCDC
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has disclosed
that 144 deaths have been recorded in the recent Lassa Fever outbreak in the
country.
NCDC’s Director General, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu who served an
update on the disease placed the Case Fatality Rate (CFR) at 16.8 per cent. As
of last week, the number of deaths was 132, meaning 12 people died from the
disease within last week.
Ihekweazu further
revealed that the recent CFR is lower than the CFR for the same period in 2019
which was 23.3 per cent, thus suggesting improved level of detection and case
management.
In Week 10, the number of new confirmed cases decreased from
85 cases in Week Nine in 2020 to 81 cases. Cumulatively between week one and
10, 2020, there were 3416 suspected cases, 855 confirmed, 11 probable and 144
deaths compared to same period in 2019 which had 1752 suspected cases, 472
confirmed, 15 probable and 110 death.
In total for 2020, 27
states have so far recorded at least one confirmed case across 119 local
government areas. Of all confirmed cases, 74 per cent are from Edo (34 per
cent), Ondo (33 per cent) and Ebonyi (seven per cent).
Lassa Fever is a
hemorrhagic disease transmitted by a vector called multimammate rat. The virus
is transmitted from the excreta or urine of the vector to humans, and from
humans to humans. Symptoms of the disease at early stages are similar to
febrile illness such as malaria.
General symptoms
include fever, headache, sore throat, general body weakness, cough, nausea,
vomiting, diarrhoea, muscle pains, chest pain, and in severe cases,
unexplainable bleeding from ears, eyes, nose, mouth, vagina, anus and other
body orifices. It could also present persistent bleeding from sites of
intravenous cannulation. Early diagnosis and treatment increases a patient’s
chances of survival.
Post a Comment