By Aluta News
December 17, 2021
NCDC commends DASH for taking proactive steps to check further spread of Lassa Fever
The Director General of the Nigeria Center for Disease Control, Dr . Ifedayo Morayo Adetifa, has commended the Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital, Lafia, Nasarawa State, over the role the hospital played in trying to save the life of a woman, which resulted in the deaths of two doctors.
Dr. Adetifa conveyed this message to management of DASH on Thursday, via a team of four doctors drafted to offer support to the state in the fight against lassa fever, hospital, as well as condole with the staff and management of the facility.
The team leader, Dr. Muntari Hassan, expressed deep sympathy with the hospital and families of the doctors who lost their lives trying to save a woman.
He recalled similar incident that happened in Kano last year where the country lost some health personnel trying to save a pregnant woman.
Dr. Muntari said, “we are in the state to offer support in the area of surveillance, contact tracing, active case search within the community, risk communication through advocacy to traditional rulers, support of treatment facilities”, among others.
He said DASH has been highly commended for professionalism in the surgical intervention over the woman who was the probable Lassa fever case, which he said would have been the case any where in the world, and for stopping the spread after the loss of the two doctors, as no other positive case has been confirmed from the thirty nine samples taken and the over seventy contacts traced.
Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Dr. Ikrama Hassan appreciated the concern of the NCDC and their prompt intervention.
He however expressed the urgent need to allow the hospital the capacity to test for lassa fever at the Infectious Disease Center, which is just within the hospital environment, adding that Nasarawa State is endemic to lassa fever since the 80s.
Dr. Ikrama said presently, samples are taken to Abuja, which affects the turn out time.
According to him, prompt turn out time of the results will help in the management of lassa fever cases and increase survival rate.