LUTH discharges Lassa fever patient

The Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi Araba, on Friday said that it had discharged its Lassa fever patient who had been in isolation for four weeks.

A statement which was signed by the Information Officer of LUTH said that the patient had now tested negative to the Lassa fever virus after weeks of receiving treatment.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the first case of Lassa fever in Lagos was diagnosed at the LUTH on Jan. 15.

It was a 25-year-old student of the Ahmadu Bello University, in Zaria, Kaduna State, who had contacted the virus before he came to visit his parents at Ifako-Ijaiye area of Lagos State.

He was admitted in a private hospital at Ifako-Ijaiye on Jan. 9 and was transferred to LUTH onJan.15 on an account of developing symptoms of fever, sore throat and body ache.

The medical personnel in LUTH had run a blood test on him of which confirmed that he had Lassa fever.

The statement said, “It is gladdening to note that the patient has fully recovered and has been discharged having tested negative for Lassa fever virus.

“When the case was reported, the Lagos State and Federal Governments were intimated and they gave a quick response by providing logistic support including providing the drug (ribavirin) for Lassa fever.

“The hospital also mobilised its team of specialists including nurses, virologists and medical microbiologists.

“The patient was managed in an Isolation Centre with other drugs and adequate infection control measures put in place.

“These included contact tracing and monitoring,’’ it said.

The statement said that the management of the hospital applauded the Federal Ministry of Health, National Centre for Disease Control and the Lagos State Government for their quick intervention.

According to it, the LUTH is probably one of the first hospitals in the South West that has successfully admitted, managed and discharged a Lassa fever patient in this current outbreak.

culled:the nation