Friday, 15 January 2016

A medical doctor with Rivers State-owned Braithwait Memorial Specialist Hospital, BMH, Dr. Livy Ijamala, has died from Lassa Fever in Port Harcout, bringing to three the number of people killed by the disease in the state.
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Chairman of the state branch of Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, Dr. Furo Green, disclosed this yesterday in Port Harcourt, saying the late doctor, Ijamala, who died in the early hours of yesterday from the ailment, had contact with patients infected with Lassa Fever.


Dr. Furo added that the late medical doctor had been buried in line with recommendations of World Health Organization, WHO, for deaths from contagious diseases.
He also said a team from WHO had already visited the hospital for assessment, adding that the hospital had been decontaminated and that those who had contacts with the late Dr. Ijamala had been placed on observation.
He said: “Last night, one of our hard-working doctors in the department of obstetrics gynaecology, Dr. Livy Ijamala, lost his life following infection with Lassa Fever.
This is the price medical doctors and health personnel pay for offering health services to the public.
“The hospital is being decontaminated as we speak. All medical doctors and healthcare personnel that had primary contact with the late medical doctor have been placed under observation.”
… as doctors begin strike
He also said medical doctors in the state were on three days strike to protest the frequent abduction of medical doctors in the state.
He said within the week two of his colleagues, Dr. Isaac Opurum and Dr. Ib Aprioku were taken hostage at separate times. He said in 2015, 21 doctors were abducted in the state.
According to him, the warning strike was to draw attention to the plight of medical doctors.
He said: “While we are not happy to go on strike, the strike now appears to be a blessing in disguise because fewer doctors and patients came to the hospital today, thereby, reducing the rate of contacts among medical doctors and patients.”

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  • Epidemiology The dissemination of the infection can be assessed by prevalence of antibodies to the virus in populations of: *.Sierra Leone - 8–52% *.Guinea - 4–55% *.Nigeria - about 21% Lassa fever is a viral hemorrhagic fever in West Af… Read More
  • Treatment All persons suspected of Lassa fever infection should be admitted to isolation facilities and their body fluids and excreta properly disposed of. Early and aggressive treatment using ribavirinwas pioneered by Joe McCormi… Read More
  • Causes Lassa virus is zoonotic (transmitted from animals), in that it spreads to humans from rodents, specifically multimammate mice (Mastomys natalensis). This is probably the most common mouse in equatorial Africa, ubiquitous in … Read More
  • Lassa Fever Lassa hemorrhagic fever (LHF) is an acute viral hemorrhagic fever caused by the Lassa virus and first described in 1969 in the town of Lassa, in Borno State, Nigeria. Lassa fever is a member of the Arenaviridae virus fam… Read More
  • Prognosis About 15-20% of hospitalized Lassa fever patients will die from the illness. The overall mortality rate is estimated to be 1%, but during epidemics, mortality can climb as high as 50%. The mortality rate is greater than 80% … Read More

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