LUTH discharges Lassa fever index patient

Prof. Wasiu Adeyemo, Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee (CMAC), Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba, Lagos, says the Lassa fever index patient has been discharged from the isolation ward.

Adeyemo said on Tuesday in Lagos that the index patient had fully recovered from the disease.

“The index Lassa fever case with us has done very well.

“We were able to successfully manage the case and he has been discharged today (Tuesday).

“I say well done to all our team members,” he said.

Adeyemo had on Monday indicated that the patient had fully recovered and would soon be discharged.

The CMAC said that LUTH was able to curtail the spread of Lassa fever because it was prepared for it.

According to him, LUTH frontline staff members have a high level of suspicion when the index case was presented at the hospital.

“The best lesson we have learned in LUTH is to always have a high index of suspicion all the time, especially during outbreaks like this,” he said.

Adeyemo, therefore, advised the public to present to the hospital as soon as possible if anyone has symptoms suggestive of Lassa fever.

He said that nobody should press the panic button whenever a case was discovered, because panic would not help anybody.

The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, had on Feb.19 confirmed one case of Lassa fever in Lagos, while 63 people who had direct contact with index Lassa fever case were placed under surveillance.

Abayomi said that the state Ministry of Health, through its Epidemiology, Biosecurity and Global Health Directorate, was conducting a ‘contact tracing’ to determine those who might have been infected in line with the international standards.

He said then that the confirmed index case being isolated at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba, had contact with 63 people since his arrival in Lagos from Ebonyi.

According to him, he had contact with people at the Lagos Law School, the Nigerian Air Force Clinic and LUTH. They are all being monitored.