fbpx

Lassa Fever: Nigeria records six deaths, 29 new infections

The report shows that of the 11 states that accounted for the new cases, Ondo, Edo, and Bauchi States topped the infection chart with 68 per cent.

Nigeria has recorded 29 additional Lassa fever infections and six deaths across 11 states of the federation.

The latest situation report released by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) Saturday shows that the new cases were reported for the 11th week of 2022, spanning March 14 to 20, 2022.

The report shows that the number of confirmed cases decreased from 33 in the previous week to 29 cases, raising the total number of infections recorded in 2022 to 659 across 91 Local Government Areas in 23 states of the federation.

The disease control centre stated in the report that cumulatively from the first week to the 11th week of 2022, 123 deaths have been reported with a case fatality rate (CFR) of 18.7 per cent.

The centre added that the new fatality rate is lower than the CFR for the same period in 2021, which was 20.6 per cent, adding that only one new healthcare worker was affected in the reporting week 11.

The report shows that of the 11 states that accounted for the new cases, Ondo, Edo, and Bauchi States maintained the top of the infection chart with 68 per cent.

Ondo State in the South-west topped the infection chart with 29 per cent, while Edo and Bauchi States accounted for 24 and 15 per cent of the infections respectively.

The other states are Taraba, Kogi, Enugu, Ebonyi, Nasarawa, Oyo, Plateau, and Anambra.

NCDC also maintained that the number of suspected cases has increased compared to that reported for the same period in 2021.

Lassa Fever

Lassa fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic (excessive bleeding) illness that is transmitted to humans through contact with food, household items contaminated by infected rodents, or contaminated persons.

Symptoms include fever, headache, sore throat, general body weakness, cough, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, muscle pains, chest pain, and in severe cases, unexplainable bleeding from ears, eyes, nose, mouth, and other body openings.

Source : https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/519978-lassa-fever-nigeria-records-six-deaths-29-new-infections.html

You must be logged in to comment due to spam issues.