A clinical epidemiologist, Dr Akindele Adebiyi, has appealed to the federal and state governments to ensure adequate provision of personal protective equipment (PPE) for health workers to reduce transmission of infectious diseases.
Adebiyi, the President, International Epidemiological Association, appealed in an interview on Thursday in Lagos.
According to him, appropriate use of PPE is a critical and effective strategy for protecting patients and healthcare providers from transmissible pathogens.
He noted that stringent attention to infection prevention and control measures in most hospitals had relapsed after COVID-19.
“If adequate PPE aren’t available at the healthcare level, we are putting the healthcare workers and patients at risk,” he said.
Adebiyi said the perennial outbreak of Lassa fever and its debilitating effect on citizens and healthcare workers was worrisome.
He stressed the need for concerted efforts to reduce the burden of the disease.
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Adebiyi also stressed the need for strengthened infection prevention and control (IPC) measures, training and retraining of healthcare workers on standard safety precautions and reminders passed around hospitals.
“Whether it is Lassa fever, meningitis, M-pox, or cholera, we don’t want patients to come in with one disease and leave with an additional one,” he said.
He advised healthcare workers to have a high index of suspicion for every case, noting that a triage of patients should be intensified, and designated sites set up in healthcare facilities.
Adebiyi appealed to the government to ensure adequate provision of Ribavirin, especially in high-burden areas, noting that early treatment would reduce case fatality.
He also appealed to the government to ensure a good surveillance system that would aid prompt detection of Lassa fever to reduce transmission.
Adebiyi stressed the need to enhance sensitization of the public to prevention and transmission of Lassa fever.
He explained that maintaining optimum hygiene was critical to prevent infections.
Lassa fever is an acute viral haemorrhagic illness that is transmitted to humans through contact with food or household items contaminated with rodent urine or faeces.
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Person-to-person infection and laboratory transmission can also occur, particularly in hospitals lacking adequate infection prevention and control measures.
Data from the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) showed that 573 cases of Lassa fever were confirmed in 24 states between Jan. 1 and Feb. 25, from which 17 healthcare workers were affected.
The NCDC noted that 108 deaths had been reported with a case fatality rate (CFR) of 18.8 percent which is higher than the CFR for the same period in 2023.
Also, data from the Africa CDC estimates 100,000 to 300,000 annual Lassa fever infections in West Africa, with approximately 5,000 deaths.
(NAN)
