Lassa Fever Kills 2 People in Katsina State

Lassa fever has killed 2 people in Katsina State.

Philips News reports that Katsina State recorded a new case of Lassa fever on Wednesday, bringing the total of reported cases to three, with two deaths in the state recently.

Mohammed Abubakar, Consultant in Infectious Diseases at the Federal Teaching Hospital Katsina, confirmed this in an interview with our Correspondent in Katsina.

Abubakar said, “As I’m talking to you now, in Katsina State, three cases have been confirmed. Two died. One was from Kafur, the other one was from Funtua.

“The third case is currently with us here in this isolation centre. As we’re having this interview, she’s recuperating well.”

He said the Federal Teaching Hospital Katsina is currently treating a female patient whose husband recently died from the disease.

“She is stable and responding to treatment,” he said.

He commended the hospital’s emergency response committee for promptly isolating the patient to prevent further spread and panic within the hospital.

He also raised an alarm over a disturbing shift in the pattern and severity of the current Lassa fever outbreak in Nigeria.

Abubakar, who is also Chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) in Katsina State, said the disease is proving deadlier this year, with a sharp rise in the number of deaths recorded among confirmed cases.

Speaking in an isolation centre where a newly confirmed patient is being treated, he said the current case fatality rate is significantly higher than in previous years.

“Previously, the fatality rate ranged between 10 and 30 per cent, but this year, nearly one in four infected persons is dying,” he said.

According to him, from January to date, more than 1,000 suspected and confirmed cases have been recorded nationwide, with about 145 deaths.

The Consultant in Infectious Diseases said the outbreak, which usually peaks between January and March, has taken a different geographical pattern this year.