Lassa Fever

“The virus is very acute and can affect all the organs of the body. Carriers might be complaining of fever, muscle pain, fatigue and occasionally muscle swelling. They could also complain that their eyes are red and that is because of itching since Lassa causes haemorrhagic fever”.

Because of the haemorrhagic nature of the virus, it can also affect the gastrointestinal tracts so much so that an affected person might present with cases of nausea and vomiting which may be bloody. 

Apart from a bloody diarrhoea which an infected person is likely to come up with, there might also be some forms of stomach pains and even constipation. There could also be evidence of hepatitis.

Also, Lassa fever can affect the cardiovascular system as it might lead to hypertension or hypotension, causing the blood pressure to be high or low and the victim would have abnormal high range. 

Another grim picture of the virus is that the brain is not spared. Lassa fever can affect the brain or the nervous system and it might mimic meningitis.

“The respiratory system is also at risk as an infected person can also come down with cough, chest pain and difficulty in breathing”.

Treatment

Being a haemorrhagic fever which is viral in nature, the Lassa virus is diagnosed by doing a laboratory test in a test centre.

The first step in the treatment of a carrier of the virus is admitting and isolating the person, while also ensuring that the patient’s body fluid and excreta are properly disposed in order to prevent the spread.

“For people to have a chance of survival, there must be early and aggressive treatment with a drug called ribavirin and of course the normal treatment you give to patients. There is also a drug we call interferon which can boost the immune system.

“The normal treatment for people who have such viral infection is you must make sure you test the person and ensure the patient has enough (intravenous) fluids. Also if the person has bled so much, there might be need for some level of transfusion.”

Prevention

Being a viral infection, which can be easily spread, medical practitioners have always harped on prevention as the best form of treatment. 

Preventive measures in this regard refer to making efforts to control the rat population around the house, while also ensuring that no food is exposed to rodents since the urine and body fluid of rodents are the key things which cause Lassa fever transmission.

“Some people eat rats; those people should be discouraged because transmission could happen when it is being prepared. 

It is just like we told people not to eat bats and bush meat during the Ebola period so people must make sure that they prevent contacts with rats and then they should cover their food very well”.

For those who also like to gulp down canned drinks without running a careful check, there could also be a grim picture as using a tissue paper to clean the opening is not enough to safeguard against the virus. 

For it to be safe for drinking, there would be need to use soap and water, the medic added.

“We always tell people not to drink directly from a canned drink. It can be dangerous because you don’t know whether rodents have urinated on them in the process of storage. It is important that we use soap and water to clean the openings of those things before they are served to people”.

Another way of treating the virus is to get a person who has survived it since the anti-body can be used to treat someone that has the disease.