Govt raises teams on Lassa fever, meningitis
By Chukwuma Muanya
FOLLOWING the outbreaks of Lassa fever in Edo and Nasarawa states that killed more than 30 persons and led to the hospitalisation of no fewer than 229 others in 2008, and the Cerebro Spinal Meningitis (CSM) outbreaks that have claimed over 15 lives in 2009, the Federal Government has increased surveillance on the diseases.
Minister of Health, Prof. Babatunde Osotimehin, in an exclusive interview with The Guardian, said government had raised a forum of medical professionals, and ordered 1.5 million doses of meningitis vaccines.
Osotimehin said government was working towards preventing possible major meningitis outbreak in March and had set up a machinery to contain it .
The Minister said: "It requires a lot of surveillance for us to be able to be on top of it and we have established a lab, a very high class lab in Irrua Specialist Hospital in Edo State, so they give us the back-up service for this. It is not only in Edo State, we had pockets of Lassa fever breakout. We also had some in Nasarawa State.
"But we have a high-class forum now of very serious professionals who are actually doing the surveillance, they are trying to increase the public awareness about Lassa fever. We are facilitating these things and we are ensuring that we get enough information out to the people so that they can identify it in time and have treatment."
The Chief Medical Director of Irrua Specialist Hospital, Prof George Akpede, last week expressed concern over the wide spread of Lassa fever in recent times. He disclosed that out of 229 suspected cases reported between January and December 2008, 30 people died.
In January, a man from Nigeria died in London hospital due to Lassa fever and a Nigerian medical doctor who contracted Lassa fever in the country is being treated at the Unitas Hospital in Pretoria, South Africa.
Lassa fever is caused by the Lassa virus and is endemic in Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, and the Central African Republic. About eight in 10 people infected with Lassa virus develop mild or no symptoms, but in 20 per cent of cases people will have severe illness.
Symptoms include fever, headache, sore throat, cough, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, and muscle pain. A common complication is deafness, but only about two per cent of all patients die from the illness. The virus is spread by infected rats through their urine and droppings. The infection is not easily spread to others and then only by direct contact with bodily fluids.
On the possibility of a major outbreak of meningitis in March, Osotimehin said: "We got information about it that there was something in Niger Republic, so we spoke to Zamfara, Katsina, Sokoto States about possibilities and subsequently we have provided assistance in terms of starter pack for vaccines and for drugs. And only on Friday, we ordered 1.5 million doses of vaccine as well as some more drugs just to ensure that if something happens in March we will be able to prevent it."
In 1996 Africa experienced the largest recorded meningitis epidemic in history with more than 250,000 recorded cases and 25,000 deaths, including more than 1,000 in Nigeria.
Osotimehin said: "The Federal Government is heightening surveillance and improving laboratories in all states, improving public awareness of the disease and distributing the chloramphenicol antibiotic used to treat meningitis. Kano, which borders Katsina and is Nigeria's most populous state, has started running radio jingles on ways to prevent infection.
"Health officials are reminding people to keep bedroom windows open and to ensure ventilation wherever they are. The disease is spread from person to person through droplets of respiratory or throat secretions. It is estimated that up to 25 per cent of the population, more in epidemic areas, may carry the bacteria at any given time without being infected. We have mobilised local chiefs, public health personnel and local government authorities for education campaigns in all the nooks and crannies of the endemic states."
According to the minister, Nigeria is in the meningitis belt, and the disease is severe in the dry season and peaks in March. "During the dry season in West Africa, typically October to June, dust winds and cold nights lead to more respiratory infections. The infection spreads most rapidly in overcrowded living quarters," he said.
The Nigerian states identified as being most at risk are Katsina, Sokoto, Kano, Kebbi and Jigawa. Since February 1 this year, Nigerian health officials have reported 15 deaths from meningitis and more than 200 in hospital in Katsina State, one of Nigeria's closest states to Zinder, an infected region in Niger.
However, Nigerian health authorities have placed northern states on high alert following a meningitis outbreak in neighbouring Niger, which according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), killed 17 people and infected 382 in January.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria, an outbreak of meningitis in north-western state of Sokoto earlier in February killed up at five people. CSM cases have also occurred in Sabon-Birni local council area.
The Federal Government last week ordered N237 million worth of 1.5 million doses of vaccines in its fight against the spread of CSM. The vaccines, bought through the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), are being expected in the country within the week.
Additional 150,000 doses of the vaccines will also be distributed to the high-risk states of Sokoto, Katsina and Jigawa.
Meningitis is basically an inflammation of the coverings of the brain, called meninges. Some of the classic symptoms of the disease are fever, vomiting, intense headache, and stiffness in the neck. It is often caused by a bacteria or a virus.
