A 51-year-old man
has died of Lassa fever at the Mainland Hospital
in Yaba, Lagos.
The State
Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, confirmed that the patient who was
initially admitted at Divine Medical Centre, Ikoyi, may have contacted the
disease after attending a wedding ceremony in Edo State in December.
According to the
commissioner, the patient died on January 18 before the result of the
laboratory test that confirmed him positive of Lassa fever was received at the
Infectious Diseases hospital in Yaba.
Idris noted that
another 36 -year -old lady, a native of Kogi State, who had tested
positive to the disease was currently on admission at the Mainland
hospital while the health ministry had begun tracing 438 contacts related to
the three index cases that were recorded in the state.
He stated, “Lagos
State has three confirmed cases out of the 14 suspected cases of Lassa fever.
Two of them are responding well to treatment while one of them died.
Eight samples
tested negative while we are awaiting results for the remaining three suspected
cases.
“The Ministry has
listed 447 contacts of the confirmed cases and 438 of the contacts are
currently being monitored.
We have made
available drugs and other materials at our designated facilities; and isolation
centres have been prepared to manage suspected and confirmed cases.”
The
commissioner called on residents and health workers to adhere to
infection control measures in their environment and hospitals to prevent
an outbreak in the state.
Source: Punch newspaper
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