IN its latest epidemiological report, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) urged state governments to strengthen all-year-round engagement with communities to curb the spread of the deadly Lassa fever that has spread to 21 states of the country with a total number of 831 confirmed cases. The agency reported 156 deaths from the impact of the disease this year
Vehemently, the NCDC is insisting on community engagement to check the spread of Lassa fever because the disease, presently, has no cure but only treatable. It is also preventable. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has confirmed that there is no vaccine yet to eliminate the virus that causes the disease, but that medical research is ongoing on the subject matter.
By the way, Lassa fever is a viral haemorrhagic disease, which means that it causes bleeding from openings in the body when the infection has become severe. Other symptoms include fever, sore throat, headache, vomiting, and muscle pain.
Caused by the Lassa virus, which is carried by a specific group of rats that inhabit sub-Saharan Africa, including Nigeria and other West African countries, the disease is transmitted via contact with the urine or fecal deposits of infected rodents. Other means of transmission of the disease include person to person contact through bodily fluid, contaminated objects like food, and infected medical equipment in a healthcare facility.
According to statistics released by the NCDC, the disease significantly affects neonates (new born infants), children and pregnant women. However, it also affects others regardless of age. This year, it was found, for instance, that persons aged 21 to 30 years were the average age group of the impact of the ailment. Even a healthcare worker caught the virus.
A key weakness in the fight against Lassa fever, said the agency, is late presentation of cases at the appropriate healthcare facility. Other challenges are poor health-seeking behavior, high cost of treatment, and poor environmental sanitation in high burden communities. So, in a way, filthy surroundings including residential premises, office settings, and markets where rodents thrive contribute significantly to the spread of the disease.
A known treatment option for Lassa fever is the use of Ribavirin, an antiviral drug, which the NCDC has been distributing. Beyond deploying its rapid response team to affected areas, the agency has launched training programmes for its personnel on how to combat the disease; packaged Lassa fever messages for public communication; and distribution of personal protective equipment and thermometers to affected states.
As noted earlier, the disease has serious health implications for the society, key of which is death. This is said to occur mostly when cases are presented late. It is also reported to lead to loss of hearing and kidney issues. Moreover, it has the capacity to wreck victims’ economic base.
The efforts of the NCDC to tackle the endemic disease are commendable, as it were. Its call on state governments on community engagement to curb the spread is, to us, a timely reminder to motivate them to push harder the challenge of keeping their communities clean. This could also involve having town hall meetings with stakeholders to emphasize the need for top-notch environmental sanitation in their respective domains. It is important to note that some states observe monthly environmental sanitation programmes, but it seems the exercise is observed mostly in urban centres while it’s absent in rural communities.
It is our considered opinion that the message of maintaining clean environments should also be taken to religious places for quick transmission to congregants. Traditional rulers should similarly be engaged to use their offices to mandate their indigenes to possibly observe weekly or bi-weekly cleanup of their compounds and streets.
Furthermore, the NCDC in collaboration with the WHO should intensify research efforts to develop the killer vaccine that could be used to permanently cure Lassa fever, the bleeding ailment that was first identified in the country in 1969. That is 56 years ago. It is a challenge that the entire sub-Sahara region of Africa should collectively and strategically combat.
