Assessment of Preparedness and Community Based /nƚĞƌǀĞnƟŽn Strategies for WƌĞǀĞnƟŽn and Control of Lassa Fever in Rural Malete, Kwara State

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dc.contributor.authorBilewu O Olaolu* , Nusirat Elelu, Adejumo A Adedapo, Ige Taiye and Yusuf F Issa
dc.date.accessioned2024-07-09T10:13:48Z
dc.date.available2024-07-09T10:13:48Z
dc.date.issued2021-12-31
dc.descriptionLassa fever is an acute viral illness that occurs in West Africa. The illness was discovered in 1969 when two missionary nurses died in Nigeria. The virus is named ĂŌĞr the town in Nigeria where the ĮrƐƚ cases occurred. The virus, a member of the virus family Arenaviridae, is a single stranded RNA virus and is njŽŽnŽtic or animal borne. Lassa fever is endemic in parts of west Africa including Sierra Leone including Liberia, Guinea and Nigeria; however, other neighboring countries are also at risk, as the animal vector for Lassa virus, the ΗmƵůtimĂmmĂƚĞ rat" (Mastomysnatalensis) is distributed throughout the region. In 2009, the ĮrƐƚ case from Mali was reported in a traveler living in Southern Mali; Ghana reported its ĮrƐƚ cases in late 2011. Isolated cases have also been reported in Côte d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso and there is serologic evidence of Lassa virus ŝnĨĞctiŽn in Togo and Benin. The number of Lassa virus ŝnĨĞctiŽnƐ per year in West Africa is ĞƐtimĂƚĞĚ at 100,000 to 300,000 with approxim ately 5,000 deaths. Unfortunately, such ĞƐtimĂƚĞƐ are crude, because surveillance for cases of the disease is not uniformly performed. In some areas of Sierra Leone and Liberia, it is known that 10%-16% of people ĂĚmŝƩĞĚ to hospitals every year have Lassa fever, which indicates the serious impact of the disease on the ƉŽƉƵůĂtiŽn of this region. The ŝncƵbĂtiŽn period for Lassa fever varies from 6-21 days. It is ƐymƉƚŽmĂtic and usually characterized by fever, myalgia, nausea, vŽmŝtinŐ͕ sore throat, abdominal and chest pains. Illness may progress to more serious symptoms including hemorrhaging, neurological problems, hearing loss, tremors and ĞncĞƉŚĂůŝtiƐ͘ Lassa virus is njŽŽnŽtic and infected rodents in the Mastomys natalensis species complex are reservoirs capable of ĞxcrĞtinŐ the virus through urine, saliva, excreta and other body ŇƵŝĚƐ to man. Secondary human to human spread within a community may occur through ŝnŚĂůĂtiŽn or ŝnŐĞƐtiŽn͘ Nosocomial transmission is also not uncommon. Lassa fever is an acute viral illness endemic to several countries in of West Africa [1]. Lassa fever is one of the diseases for which weekly epidemiology rĞƉŽrtinŐ to the health ĂƵƚŚŽrŝtiĞƐ is being done in Nigeria.
dc.description.abstractBackground: The outbreak of Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers (VHFs) in the West African sub region in recent timĞƐ had nĞŐĂtivĞ consequences on the health systems, ŝnƚĞrnĂtiŽnĂů travels, movements and trades. Nigeria is Ɛtiůů bĂƩůŝnŐ with a ƐŝŐnŝĮcĂnƚ spread of Lassa Fever (LF) outbreak. Aims: This study assessed preparedness and community bas ed ŝnƚĞrvĞntiŽn strategies for ƉrĞvĞntiŽn and control of Lassa fever in rural Malete, Kwara State. Methodology: This was a ĚĞƐcrŝƉtivĞ cross ƐĞctiŽnĂů study carried out among. Two hundred ĮŌy nine (259) people in rural Malete. Study respondents were s elected using mƵůtiƐƚĂŐĞ sampling technique. A well structur ed, paper based, interviewer administered qƵĞƐtiŽnnĂŝrĞ w as used for data cŽůůĞctiŽn͘ Data was analyzed using ^ƚĂtiƐticĂů Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 25.0, ƐŽŌwĂrĞ package for windows (IBM SPSS, 2017) ĚĞƐcrŝƉtivĞ and classical ƐƚĂtiƐticƐ were adopted and the level of ƐŝŐnŝĮcĂncĞ for the ƐƚĂtiƐticĂů tests was set at ≤ 0.05. Result: More than half of the respondents 75(64.7%) in the age group (21-30 years) agree they know strategies against Lassa fever ƉrĞvĞntiŽn and control in Malete, 35(57.6%) in the age group (31-40 years) of the respondents also agree they know strategies against Lassa fever ƉrĞvĞntiŽn and control in Malete. Majority 39(77.3%) of respondents in the age group (41-50 years) agree they know strategies against Lassa fever ƉrĞvĞntiŽn and control in Malete. 12(52%) of the respondents in (51 above years) years category agree that they know if the state rĞŐƵůĂtiŽnƐ for ƉrŽƚĞctiŽn against rĂĚŝĂtiŽn is available. Discussion: Past epidemic control in Nigeria have occurred, leaving ůŝƩůĞ or no traces of ĞxŝƐtinŐ control structures behind and preparing no ground for future outbreaks and ůŝƩůĞ or no emphasis on preparedness. Adequate training and retraining of health care providers as well as the establishing well equipped ŝnĨĞctiŽƵƐ disease clinics, laboratories and research centers would help in the prompt containment, diagnosis and treatment of Lassa and would help in ĂvĞrtinŐ possible future outbreaks
dc.description.sponsorshipBilewu O Olaolu* , Nusirat Elelu, Adejumo A Adedapo, Ige Taiye and Yusuf F Issa
dc.identifier.urihttps://kwasuspace.kwasu.edu.ng/handle/123456789/1501
dc.language.isoen
dc.titleAssessment of Preparedness and Community Based /nƚĞƌǀĞnƟŽn Strategies for WƌĞǀĞnƟŽn and Control of Lassa Fever in Rural Malete, Kwara State
dc.typeArticle
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