According to Bode, the patients who presented very late died after spending a few days in admission, he said; “Each of these two patients presented very late and died in spite of efforts to salvage them. The first was a 39-year old pregnant lady with bleeding disorder who died after a stillbirth.” He said a post-mortem examination had been conducted before her Lassa fever status was eventually suspected and confirmed.
Bode also confirmed that a resident doctor from the Department of Anatomic and Molecular Pathology who took part in the autopsy was later confirmed with the disease and is currently on admission and responding well to treatment at the Isolation Ward of LUTH.
The Chief Medical Director (Bode) further disclosed that two other suspected cases from Lagos state are also presently admitted and quarantined while undergoing confirmatory laboratory tests. He enjoined all LUTH workers to maintain a heightened level of alertness in the wake of this new outbreak and observe universal precautions in handling all suspected cases of this viral hemorrhagic fever.
Bode said LUTH is working with officials of the Lagos State Ministry of Health and the Federal Ministry of Health to contain the present Lassa fever outbreak by mobilizing human and material resources to trace the sources and extent of the disease, follow up on potential contacts, identify early and test suspected cases. “There are adequate materials for containment of the disease while drugs have been made available to treat anyone confirmed with the disease. The Centre for Disease Control (CDC) in Nigeria has also been contacted.” he said.
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