Lassa Fever: Origins, Reservoirs, Transmission And Guidelines

in fever •  7 years ago 

Sunday Nwangele, commissioner for health, Ebonyi State, has confirmed that six out of the 16 patients suspected to have contacted the dreaded lassa fever in the state are having the disease. The Taraba State Commissioner of Health, Innocent Vakkai, said on Sunday that one person had died and two others quarantined as the state moved to contain the ailment. The commissioner was reacting to the outbreak of the disease in some states of the country. Over the past couple of days alarm bells have started ringing in Nigeria as it was revealed that 86 Lassa cases have been reported from 10 states over the past 6 weeks, and of those, 40 have died. The Ministries of Health of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, WHO, the Office of United States Foreign Disaster Assistance, the United Nations, and other partners have worked together to establish the Mano River Union Lassa Fever Network.

The outbreak of Lassa Fever in Taraba State has killed one person and two others quarantined at the Federal Medical Centre, Jalingo. There is no evidence to support the role of ribavirin as post-exposure prophylactic treatment for Lassa fever. There was a sign on the cord, written in the local Lingala language that read, "Please stop, anybody who crosses here may die." "They had already lost four of their colleagues to the disease," says Piot. Piot. "There was a feeling of being very privileged, that this was a moment of discovery." News had reached Antwerp that the nun, who was under the care of the doctor in Zaire, had died. Later, in about 5 days, there may be a rash, severe stomach pains and the hemorrhagic signs - bleeding from the orifices (ears, nose), gastrointestinal bleeding and vomiting black blood. Among the challenges survivors have faced is that after recovering from Ebola virus disease and clearing the virus from their bloodstream, the virus may persist in the semen of some male survivors for as long as 9-12 months. This paper discusses Lassa fever, an infectious disease with regard to its causality organism, transmission, epidemiology, and factors causing the illness, clinical manifestation and diagnosis and the role of the nurse in controlling the illness.

The minister did not reel out methods that wouldbe adopted to strengthen the nation’s disease surveillance system against future outbreak of the virus couriered by rats. It also admonished residents on proper waste disposal and maintenance of clean environment so ward off rats and the storage of food item in rat-proof containers and thorough cooking all foods before consumption. Because Mastomys are so abundant in endemic areas, it is not possible to completely eliminate them from the environment. Evading rodents, reservoir source are the only sure way of preventing the primary infection particularly in geographic areas such as Nigeria characterized by growing cases of outbreaks. Togo had not previously reported confirmed Lassa cases although the country is located between known endemic areas. West Africa, without apparent coincidence with known biogeographic or environmental breaks, and (most worrisome) high-risk areas coincide closely with areas of most intense sampling (i.e., near research centers).

In the latest outbreak in West Africa, around 1,200 infections and 730 deaths have been reported. The outbreak involved 2 variants of DENV-1 that were transmitted by A albopictus. In the Americas, dengue epidemics were rare post war because Aedes mosquitoes had been eradicated from most of the region through coordinated vector-control efforts. The only continents that do not experience dengue transmission are Europe and Antarctica. Infants under 1 year of age are especially at risk of dying from DHF. Health workers are at serious risk of contracting the disease, which spreads through contact with bodily fluids. The members of National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives proudly associate and felicitate with all workers in Nigeria on this year commemoration of WORKERS’ DAY. Basil leaves can be chewed as it is, three times in a day. Symptoms can appear up to 7 days after being bitten by the mosquito that carries the virus. The virus carries a speedy delivery of endosomes once in the host cell through vesicular. The virus is lethal to both humans and other primates, and has no cure. As the blood leaked into the icy water so too did a deadly unknown virus. Mastomys rodents infected with the Lassa virus do not become ill and they shed the virus in their excreta.

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