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February 13, 2022 – 9:14 am Clock
In the UK, two cases of Lassa fever have emerged in families recently returned from West Africa, the Daily Mail reports. the dem Ebola Virus Similar Lassa virus can cause vaginal bleeding and cramps in women after infection. How dangerous is the virus?
Possibly a third Lassa infected
According to health officials, the infected are two members of the same family. A third relative may also have been infected. The UK Health Security Agency stressed that there was no evidence of transmission in any of the cases. One of the confirmed patients has been transferred to the Royal Free Hospital in London for specialist care, while the second is already doing well. The third probable case is currently under medical supervision.
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Mostly through contact with food
The family, from east England, is one of ten cases of Lassa fever ever discovered in the UK. There has not been a case of Lassa fever since 2009.
Lassa fever is an infectious disease found in Nigeria and several other countries on the west coast of Africa, including Liberia and Guinea. It is transmitted from rodents to humans, usually through contact with food or household items contaminated with the urine or feces of infected rats. But the virus can also be transmitted through bodily fluids.
dr Susan Hopkins: “Overall risk to the public is very low”
In most cases, Lassa fever is mild, in about one percent of cases it ends fatally. “Cases of Lassa fever are rare in the UK and it does not spread easily between people. The overall risk to the public is very low,” says Dr. Susan Hopkins, senior medical adviser at the UK Health Security Agency, told the Daily Mail.
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dr Sir Michael Jacobs, Infectious Diseases Advisor at Royal Free London continues: “People living in endemic areas of West Africa with high rodent populations are at greatest risk of Lassa fever. Imported cases are rare elsewhere in the world. Such cases are almost exclusively among people working in endemic areas in high-risk occupations, such as medical or other workers.”
What are the symptoms of Lassa fever?
Around 80 percent of people who contract the disease have no symptoms at all, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Typical symptoms of Lassa fever are headache, sore throat and vomiting. It can also trigger bleeding from the mouth and nose. In women, vaginal bleeding and seizures may occur. Tremors, disorientation and temporary deafness can also be symptoms of an infection with the virus. In severe cases, if left untreated, it can lead to a coma. (mlu)