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Paul Omokuvie Bauchi
As Lassa fever kills two doctors, the district head of Toro and 13 in Bauchi State, the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), agency responsible for management of disease outbreaks said death toll has hit 161 in Nigeria.
Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, Director-General, NCDC, said in Abuja, yesterday, when he gave the 11 weeks update that four health workers, three in Bauchi and one in Gombe, were among the dead.
“The number of suspected cases has increased significantly with 3,735 suspected cases with a total of 906 confirmed cases.”
Ihekweazu said the increase was as a result of reported new cases in 12 states which include Edo, Ondo, Ebonyi, Bauchi, Taraba, Plateau, Kogi, Delta, Enugu, FCT, Nasarawa and Gombe.
The director-general said 123 local government areas across 27 states had been affected so far.
“Ondo and Edo are the worst hit states with 15 and 11 confirmed cases respectively, while 78 patients are currently being managed.
According to him, of all confirmed cases, 73 per cent is from three states, Edo, with 33 per cent Ondo with 32 per cent and Ebonyi with seven per cent.
He said NCDC had continued to scale up its preparedness and response for Lassa fever outbreak across the country.
“We have continued to train health workers from the major treatment centres. Risk communications had increased and logistics had also improved to ensure continuous supply of medical and laboratory commodity.”
Bauchi State Surveillance Support Officer, Dr. Suleiman Lawal, told journalists at the Lassa Fever camp at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital that 16 deaths had been recorded this year
Lawal said 43 confirmed cases have been recorded in the state since January, 2020.
“Two cases were brought in from Plateau State. Among these confirmed cases, 16 deaths has been recorded this year.
“There are also three people that have died of probable cases. They are called ‘probable cases’ because we couldn’t take their samples before they died,” he said.
“Totally, we have seven health workers that were affected. One of the doctors who was pregnant and had the disease, we managed her and discharged her. Four others are currently on admission, we’ve been managing them. They are now stable, in fact, we will discharge two of them today because they have finished their 10 day treatment period.
“Two doctors died, one was a doctor that died here (at the ATBUTH) while the other one died in a private clinic here in Bauchi,”
He said most of the deaths are as a result of late reporting and appealed to people to always come to health facility on time
He said the state received assistance from the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children Endowment Fund (UNICEF) in its efforts at reducing the scourge of the disease to the barest minimum.
Lawal appealed to well-meaning members of the public to support in the fight against lassa fever.
He said that there are seven pillars that will help in managing the epidemic which he said are: education, communication, risk communication, surveillance, case management, laboratory confirmation and prevention and control.
He pointed out that communication is key in managing the epidemic.
“If people get the correct information, they will know how protect themselves and this will help in breaking this chain and reducing the spread. Sometimes people feel it has spiritual undertones, but if you give them the correct information, they will know exactly what it is, so communication is a very key pillar in controlling outbreak responses.
“You know when you have one case and you allow it, it will spread but once you are able to contain it, then you will limit the spread and it will die naturally,” he said.
