When Nigerian women journalists marked their Breastfeeding/Family Week recently, what was supposed to be an opportunity to discuss breastfeeding issues was taken over by talks on how to contain the dreaded Ebola virus, Woman Editor, TEMITOPE DAVID-ADEGBOYE, reports.
No doubt, Nigerians have continued to live in fear since the first case of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) and consequent deaths of five of its victims were recorded in the country.
Since the news broke, all kinds of prescriptions have been made and this has created panic. Many have adjusted their lifestyles and even the common hand shake is now being avoided.
Amid all the anxiety, medical experts have continued to insist that the panic isn’t necessary, while calling on all Nigerians to cooperate with the government.
One of such calls was made by Prof. Akin Osibogun, a professor of Epidemiology and Public Health.
Osibogun, who is also the Chief Medical Director of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja, made this call while speaking on ‘Controlling the Spread of Ebola Virus’ at the Breastfeeding/Family Week, organised by the Nigerian Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), Lagos State chapter.
He noted that there are survivors of Ebola attacks, adding that what is needed is for the transmission to be broken.
“What we need to do is to break the transmission chain by ensuring that those who are already infected are adequately quarantined,” he said.
While responding to the issue of ability to control its spread and the report of an “infected nurse” taking Ebola to Enugu, Osibogun explained that for the fact that the nurse is one of the contacts with the infected person does not mean that she is already infected.
According to him, the likelihood of anybody being infected depends on the level of involvement of such a person with the infected person, the person’s level of immunity and lifestyle.
His words: “The dose of the invading organisms is very important for any susceptible individual to get infected once all necessary precautions are taken. It’s over 20 days now since the report of the first (infected) person, and if there are new infections, such cases should be manifesting by now.”
Revealing that there are a lot of suspected contacts and it is not possible to keep everybody in the hospital, he said: “The most important thing is for those released to obey the instructions given to them that they should report to the hospital immediately they notice the symptoms of Ebola. They cannot infect anybody without manifesting the symptoms themselves.”
Prof. Osibogun added that even for those who are infected, it is not a death sentence if they report to hospital immediately they notice the symptoms.
On what Nigerian doctors are using to treat the Ebola patients now that America has refused to release the trial drug to Nigeria, the don stated that since it is the fluid and electrolyte imbalance that kills the patients, what the doctors do is to keep a balanced level of the fluid and electrolytes.
“What we do is to try and stop the bleeding, boost the person’s immunity and keep a balanced level of the fluid and electrolytes for those who report to hospital on time,” he said, adding that when there is imbalance in the level of the fluid and electrolytes, the kidney shuts down and other organs follow suit.
He noted that any hospital can observe suspicious cases and make referral immediately. He took his time to explain how diseases are transmitted and urged people not to stigmatise those who have been identified as having had contact with the dead Liberian.
The Ebola virus, he informed, is a very weak virus that does not survive for long outside the human body. So, he urged all to make hand-washing a regular habit.
He said: “Once people are treated and they have recovered from the Ebola virus, they are already healed and should not be stigmatised.”
Also speaking at the event, the National President of NAWOJ, Mrs. Ifeyinwa Omowole, enjoined Nigerian journalists to go beyond just reporting, and be advocates of peace, always verifying their facts, especially with the social media stuff, before sending to people.
“People believe so much in us and trust us as sources of information; hence the need for us to get our facts right and not report what is not factual or report based on ethnic or religious sentiments,” she said.
Other activities to mark the week included a walk, which began from Ikeja local government council secretariat and ended in the State Secretariat, Alausa, by members of NAWOJ. This was followed by free cervical screening.
After the first paper on ‘Family and Health Challenges: Ebola Virus in Focus’ by Prof. Osibogun, there was breastfeeding competition by immediate families of journalists.