₦airaland Forum

What is Lassa Fever?

Lassa Fever is an animal borne acute viral illness. It is a haemorrhagic fever which has become a major public health challenge in West African countries, being most prevalent in Nigeria. The multimammate rat and some other rodents mainly transmit the Lassa virus.

Epidemiology

An outbreak of the Lassa virus has recently occurred in Nigeria. About 81 cases already have been confirmed as at week 3 of January 2020. Nine states have recorded at least, one confirmed case across 32 Local government areas. Of those nine states, 89% of the cases come from Edo state, Ondo state and Ebonyi states, predominantly affecting people between ages 11 to 40.

How does it spread?

1. Rodent
2. By eating food exposed to the urine, faeces, blood or saliva of infected rodent
3. Contact with objects, household items or surfaces contaminated with urine, faeces, saliva or blood of infected rats.
4. Person-to-person transmission can also occur as a result of contact with blood, urine, faeces, vomitus and other body fluids of an infected person particularly, in hospital environment where infection prevention and control practices are not optimal.

Who is at risk of getting infected?

1. Healthcare workers treating infected patients.
2. Relatives in close contact with infected patients.
3. People in direct contact with body fluids of infected animal

Signs and symptoms

The incubation period (time between an infection and appearance of symptoms of the disease) is 3 to 21 days So symptoms usually occur within that period.

Symptoms are quite similar to common febrile illnesses like malaria. It may 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, vagina, anus and other body orifices.

Early detection of an infection with the Lassa fever virus increases the chances of survival in patients. Treatment can therefore commence early enough before the disease progresses dangerously.

Precautions to take

1. Practice good hygiene measures, such as regularly washing hands
2. Do not leave cooking utensils out in the open. Also wash them thoroughly before using.
3. Do not leave food out in the open as infected animals can contaminate them.. Also cook food thoroughly.
4. Periodically control local rodent population.
5. Healthcare workers treating infected individuals should wear adequate protective gear, dispose infected items and healthcare wastes properly, clean hospital environment regularly with appropriate material.
6. Since the symptoms of Lassa fever are febrile in nature, therefore any fever that has not responded to 48 hours use of anti-malaria or antibiotics should raise an index of suspicion for Lassa fever!
7. Test all suspected cases of Malaria using the Rapid Diagnostic Test. If the test comes out negative, suspect other causes of the febrile illness, Lassa fever inclusive.

What to do

Immediately report all suspected cases of Lassa fever to your Local Government Area Disease Surveillance and Notification Officer (DSNO). They are the first line to managing Lassa fever cases in Nigeria.

You can reach them via the contacts below:

NCDC Toll-Free Number: 0800-970000-10

SMS: 08099555577

Whatsapp: 07087110839

Twitter/Facebook: @NCDCgov



Read, comment, share to inform someone.

This post was brought to you by pharm.com.ng, your trusted #pharmily health partner.

cc: Lalasticlala
mynd44
dominique

It's Acalypha wilkesiana. The yorubas call it "ewe eela"
It's used to treat fungal skin infections particularly in infants. the leaves are boiled/brewed in large pots and used to bathe the infected child daily.

Enn214:
Outsiders have been coming to my compound to 'deform' this flower I used in decorating my house. They say it's medicinal

Pls, I would like to know the name & what it's used for?

SCOOCHIES!

Before your next red cup of Scoochies, it is important to know what you are ingesting.
“Scoochies” has become a household name in night clubs and parties both in the streets as well as highbrow areas of naija. This drink, commonly served in red plastic cups is a specially concocted cocktail brewed, packaged and branded to meet its growing demands. You probably had some a number of times during the holiday festivities and even last weekend. It is sometimes referred to as skushi, or omi gutter for the science students’ as sung in a famous afrobeat song.

What exactly is inside that cup?

This drink usually contains a combination of the following ingredients:

Boiled Marijuana extract (a.k.a weed, Igbo, cannabis, Hemp), Codeine containing cough syrups, Tramadol, Alcohol, sometimes herbal tinctures, some juice/drink like zobo or cranberry juice, as well as the scoochies brewer’s secret ingredient which may just be another substance you know nothing about. The concoction is then flavored to make the taste agreeable.

So, how can its content affect me?

While this may just look like a list of commonly available drugs, you should know that these drugs combined together in the way that scoochies is made is a potential havoc to your system. I’ll try to explain as simply as I can.

First, Tramadol and codeine belong to a class of drugs called “opioid analgesics” (yes from the same family as the notorious opium). In everyday English, this means the drugs act directly on the brain and central nervous system to so they easily interfere with important body functions including cognition, perception, mood etc. This is why in more organised countries, there are strict regulations and measures in place to check access to opioid analgesics and marijuana and even when they are prescribed, the patients are closely monitored because of their side effects and their potential for addiction.

Second, Tramadol also is a drug that has been formulated to be gradually released in the stomach. But when it is crushed, dissolved or boiled as it is used in preparing scoochies, it can expose the user to dangerously high doses of the drug.

Needless to say, these opiates come with some side effects. A common one is respiratory depression which is basically that your lungs start shutting down so you can't breathe well, consequently reducing oxygen supply to the brain leading to coma and on and on. Also, a user may begin to experience confusion, fatigue, reduced coordination and concentration, stiff muscles etc.

And if you’re thinking that side effects don’t usually happen, please know that I have personally witnessed a patient with respiratory collapse from codeine abuse, he had to be wheeled into the emergency ward, intubated and connected to oxygen tanks etc. Luckily for him, he survived his ordeal, others may not be so lucky.

Third, there is a concept in pharmacy whereby when a drug A is taken, it releases some chemicals that can increase the level and effect of drugs B, C and D in the body. So when they are used together, it increases the good and dangerous effects of the different drugs.

The components of scoochies act exactly in that way. Marijuana (weed, igbo) increases the levels of the codeine and tramadol (which has already been increased by crushing, dissolving or boiling) which can result in an escalation of the aforementioned side effects like hallucinations, confusion, fatigue, reduced coordination and concentration etc. A combination of alcohol and marijuana also further increases sedation. The truth is that the potential danger of this mixture can be unpredictable and even vary from person to person.

Lastly, there is the likelihood of opiate dependency, what is commonly referred to as addiction. At this point, one cannot function well again without a fix because the body has gotten used to ingesting the mixture and one will begin to frequently crave for the drink. This is accompanied with difficulty concentrating, difficulty sleeping, frequent nervousness/restlessness and even depression.

The summary of all this talk so far is that your health and wellness is far more important than the high any red cup will give you. Many debilitating diseases in old age could be easily avoided with healthier lifestyle choices. So choose what’s right for your body when next you’re out partying and your body will thank you for it in another 40years.

Read, comment, share to inform someone.

This post was brought to you by pharm.com.ng, your trusted #pharmily health partner.

cc: Lalasticlala
mynd44
dominique