* In case of emergency, call Nigeria Centre for Disease Control or Federal Ministry of Health :08093810105, 08163215251, 08031571667 and 08135050005
*LUTH traces 100 contacts of first case in Lagos
*Resident doctors demand better rapid response
The Federal Government is convening an Emergency National Council on Health meeting under the chairmanship of Professor Isaac Adewole, Minister of Health, to discuss the on-going Lassa fever epidemic outbreak in the country.
Mrs. Boade Akinola, Director, Media/Public Relations of the Federal Ministry of Health, said in a statement on Sunday that the Minister of Health, Prof Adewole, will chair the meeting to be attended by all states Commissioners for Health, Chief Medical Directors (CMDs) and Medical Directors of tertiary health facilities and specialist health facilities in the country.
Akinola said a high point of the meeting scheduled to hold at the Rotunda Hall of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the inauguration of the National Lassa Fever Action Committee.
Contact tracing of first Lagos case on course —LUTH
In a related development, the Chief Medical Director, Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Prof Chris Bode assured the public that monitoring of at least 40 contacts of the first confirmed case of Lassa fever in Lagos has begun in earnest
Speaking weekend, Bode said LUTH was on top of the situation, adding: “We have learned a lot of lessons from the previous Ebola outbreak, and we are just layering what is to be done on what has been learned before. The state government did not disband the various response teams, so they have been reactivated along with the toll-free lines.
“The National Centres for Disease Control (NCDC), Federal Ministry of Health and others are highly responsive to the situation and in provision of the logistics. There is a lot of collaboration with the state and all the general hospitals are well prepared, sensitised and on red alert, and if any hospital is overwhelmed, there will be others to go to.”
He said clinicians from LUTH and the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), will be manning the facilities to assist in the treatment of any other case that is detected, if necessary.
“This outbreak of Lassa fever will be quickly contained like we did Ebola. If we can beat Ebola, we can beat Lassa fever. We have a plan of action rolled out to treat anybody that comes down with Lassa fever. This disease is of importance to us at LUTH because such diseases often have fatalities in the hospital among the hospital staff and medical personnel.
We’re monitoring close to 100 contacts
Also speaking, a Consultant Public Health Physician at the Department of Epidemiology, Lagos State Ministry of Health, Dr. Ismail Abdul-Salam said contact tracing is on course.
He said all persons that were with the patient during the onset of the problem are being traced.
He said: “I have been in touch with the Kaduna State epidemiologist, who has promised to provide contacts of all the people that may have potentially had encounter with this particular student who is from Kaduna. You can see that this goes beyond just identifying the contacts in Lagos alone. We have to look at other states because it is epidemiology and we have to all come together as a family.
“We are going to be monitoring close to 100 contacts. From the facility that I am coming from now, the figure is now 95 primary and secondary contacts and here in LUTH we will be looking at over 100.”
…Resident doctors demand improved rapid response
The National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has called on the Federal Government to improve existing response mechanisms to ensure rapid response in cases of disease outbreaks in the country.
Dr Muhammad Askira, President of NARD, made the call at a news conference on Sunday in Abuja on the recent outbreak of Lassa fever.
The disease has so far claimed 43 lives in 10 states and the FCT, Abuja.
Askira decried the emergency response arrangement set up by the government to tackle outbreaks of any epidemic of this nature.
He said that such outbreaks do not require ad hoc arrangements or committees; rather, there should be an existing strategy to cushion the effect in any emergency or epidemic situation.
According to him, it will, in no small way, reduce the death toll arising from such cases.
He explained that there should be already well-structured strategies from the local, state and Federal government levels to ensure that prompt attention was given to such situations.
“There should be on ground, at any given point, already well-structured strategic system, from the Local to the Federal governments, from the primary healthcare level to tertiary healthcare, already whereby the team is already on alert for prompt and effective response to this type of epidemic.
“We should not wait until there is an outbreak before we start rushing to address the epidemic.
“This involves a lot of logistics which comes from the society, healthcare providers and the government itself.
“It can be in the form of financing, appropriate equipment and facilities, well and adequately trained manpower to handle suspected and confirmed cases, and so on.
“So whenever these are not adequate or properly applied, we have pockets and periods of epidemic of this nature,’’ he said.
Regarding the death toll being higher than the case of Ebola, Askira said that the rodent transmitting the virus was endemic, while Ebola was imported into the country.
The president called on all state branches of the association to take leading roles in safeguarding and protecting the health and lives of Nigerians.
According to him, this can be achieved by setting up emergency teams in all the branches and collaborating with all federal and state health facilities to ensure effective and prompt referral networks, among others.
He commended the present administration for giving the deserved attention and required urgency to set up the national emergency to nip Lassa fever in the bud.
Askira also urged Nigerians to maintain proper hygiene by washing their dishes before use and protecting their foods from rats and other infectious rodents.
-Vanguard/NAN