WATCH OUT!!! Ebola is gone, watch out for other fevers

The Ebola outbreak in five West African countries, including Liberia, Guinea, Democratic Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone, has definitely taught the world a lesson, and that is, do not dismiss any symptoms of fever in anyone.

Up till now, screening, using non-contact infrared thermometers is a norm before all can gain entrance into most buildings, schools and places with relatively large gathering. It simply shows that we got the message loud and clear. It was reported last month that a Ghana-based hotel refused some guests accommodation because they had high temperature.

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Why? Fever, physicians stress, is usually the first and most salient symptom of the Ebola Virus Disease which has killed over 4,200 persons in Africa. Ebola virus is one of the deadliest viruses in the world, no doubt. Nigeria lost six of her selfless health workers, including a senior medical doctor, to this highly infectious disease.

The haemorrhagic fever is the most popular in the news for now for obvious reasons; however, doctors say there are other diseases and fever which mimic the symptoms of EVD that are equally as fatal when not detected or treated early.

Lassa fever

In 2012 alone, Nigeria recorded over 1,944 cases with 207 deaths from Lassa fever, according to statistics by the Minister of State for Health, Dr. Khaliru Alhassan.

In 2013 also, three states in the North recorded over 200 cases and 40 deaths, majority of the causalities being health workers who contracted the viral disease while treating infected persons.

Just last month, Oyo State recorded another outbreak of Lassa fever. The minister warns that over 29 million Nigerians are currently at risk of the infectious disease.

Lassa fever is an acute viral infection caused by the Lassa virus and associated with persistent high fever. It is spread by exposure to and eating of food contaminated by rat dropping or urine.

It is also spread by direct contact with the blood, urine, faeces or other bodily secretions of a person with Lassa fever. In short, those who contract this virus must have touched or eaten something that had been polluted by an infected rat.

Lassa fever is a virus that had been killing Nigerians before Ebola outbreak and it will be advisable for people to keep watching out for the symptoms of the disease, no matter what.

To do so, the commissioner for health in Lagos, Dr. Jide Idris, says, “We should all stick to the basic rules of hygiene to prevent Lassa fever infection, and that is keeping our environment clean. Please avoid contact with rats and also block other avenues in the homes that could allow rodents.

He counsels health workers to protect themselves while treating Lassa fever patients or suspected cases.

Idris adds that a suspected case is when a patient presents with a fever that won’t go after several treatments and management. It simply means, if a fever persists after all medications and therapies have been applied, such individual should visit the nearest health facility.

Also, experts advise that while some states are still battling with the Lassa outbreak, health workers should treat patients with symptoms of high fever with a high index of suspicion.

Dengue fever

Dengue fever is regarded as the two-faced virus. Why? Its symptoms mimic that of malaria fever so closely, such that an infected individual may not get the aggressive treatment that the disease deserves.

The disease is spread by mosquitoes, as in malaria — a reason why every fever cannot be written off as malaria. Dengue is transmitted by the bite of the Aedes mosquito that carries the dengue virus. The mosquito itself becomes infected when it bites a person who has the dengue virus in his/her blood.

It does not stop there; the infected mosquito feeds on more people, and spreads the virus from one person to another. It is often difficult to diagnose. However, its basic signs are high fever that does not respond to treatment.

Unlike in malaria, it has no specific cure or management. Scientists are yet to develop a vaccine for dengue. But they maintain that early detection of the fever, coupled with therapy, would increase an infected person’s chance of survival — a reason why one must seek appropriate treatment for any persistent fever.

Malaria fever

Malaria is one of the highest killer diseases on the continent. In fact, statistics have it that the disease kills over 600,000 persons annually in Africa, and parts of Asia.

In Nigeria, records also show that malaria kills about 300,000 children under age five and 7,000 pregnant women annually. Nigerians also spend about N480m for the treatment of the disease annually.

Some forms of malaria infection can be deadly. Family health physician, Dr. Femi Omolola, notes that cerebral malaria, which starts with symptoms of fever but later ends in loss of brain functions, is the highest killer of children in the country.

Omolola says, “Malaria is killing children in Nigeria because too many people have access to malaria drugs, so they see no reason to take their child to the hospital when they have fever. They simply buy drugs at a chemist and administer it themselves. But they fail to realise that the infection may have spread to sensitive parts like the brain and the drug will not be enough.

“That is why we advise that people should not practice medication even when it comes to malaria, because it may be the drug-resistant type which can lead to loss of life when you don’t treat it aggressively. And aggressive treatment can only be gotten in the hospital, not in the herbal practitioner’s home who will only be experimenting with your life.”

Other fevers that we must watch out for include the typhoid fever, Marburg, yellow fever and scarlet fever. Nigeria has only been declared Ebola-free, not all viruses free. Let’s not forget that.

- Bukola Adebayo/Punch

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