…Striking doctors to treat virus victims
The Lagos State Government yesterday put a lie to the rumour that
the female doctor who tested positive to the Ebola virus, is dead. She
was one of the medical practitioners who handled the late Liberian
official, Mr. Patrick Sawyer, when he arrived at the Murtala Mohammed
Airport, Ikeja on July 20. This is even as striking doctors in Lagos
State yesterday offered to treat Ebola victims.
Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chuwku, disclosed of the female
doctor’s contracting the deadly disease at a press conference in Abuja
on Monday.
Bu the state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, who debunked the rumour yesterday, at a news conference in Ikeja, said the female doctor who attended to the index case of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) at a private hospital in Lagos is the only confirmed case to date out of the eight primary contacts under clinical surveillance and care.
According to Idris, “the female doctor being infected is largely due to the fact that she was a primary contact when the index case presented. At that point in time, the disease was not known to have been imported into the country”, Idris explained.
He said contact tracing is essential and very important to stop the spread of EVD. “In the case of the newly-infected person, we have contacted her family and have opened comprehensive lists of both primary and secondary contacts of the newly-infected person.
“There is no panic as long as basic precautionary measures such as hand washing, adoption of appropriate waste management and enhanced personal/environmental hygiene are adhered to. This is a call for everyone to be vigilant, especially with regard to relating with people who are ill.”
Idris stated that it is important to continue to highlight the mode of transmission of Ebola, stressing that the disease is transmissible through direct contacts with broken skin, mucous membranes and secretions of infected persons or through direct contacts with materials and surfaces that have been contaminated by an infected person.
The commissioner noted that in Africa, infection has also occurred through the handling of infected chimpanzees, monkeys, guerillas, fruit bats, antelopes and porcupine, adding that there had been no case of transmission by domestic animals like pigs.
He said though it was an emergency situation, government was educating people with the right information and putting measures on ground to curtail the outbreak. Warning the public to be mindful of a claim that bitter kola cures the disease, Idris said such has not been scientifically verified, insisting that there was presently no known cure for Ebola.
However, he clarified that the case can be medically managed, mostly when the patient reports on time. “The disease does not have specific cure or vaccine but it is not all people who had Ebola that have died. The fatality rate is between 40 and 90 per cent. So, 60 or 10 per cent of the patients will still live depending on how they are managed,” he stated.
Idris said precautionary measures such as hand washing, adoption of appropriate waste management and enhanced personal and environmental hygiene are relevant especially when large congregations are expected with a mix of people from other parts of the world. He commended the responsiveness and co-operation received from the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) in this regard during the church’s on-going national convention.
His words: “We went to Synagogue Church, Pastor T. B. Joshua said he was not organising any programme because of Ebola, that he was travelling out of the country. We commended the responsiveness of and co-operation received from the RCCG in this regard during the ongoing convention.”
While appreciating various health workers who have selflessly committed to this cause of preventing the spread of the virus in the areas of contact tracing, case management, decontamination, Idris appealed to other health workers like doctors, nurses, environmental health workers and phlebotomists to complement the state health workforce.
He allayed the fears of health workers who have the requisite expertise needed to manage both the confirmed and probable cases of Ebola. Idris disclosed that the government was considering better allowance for people who would volunteer to handle the cases. “Between Lagos and Federal Governments at this point, we have set politics aside to face the issue,” he said.
He explained relevant digital platforms have been set up for ease of reference, information and communication flow. These platforms are, Help line: 0800 EBOLA HELP(0800326524357); Website: www.ebolaalert.org; Facebook: fb.com/ebolaalert; and Twitter: @ebolaalert.
Meanwhile, striking doctors in Lagos State yesterday volunteered to join the team of experts managing patients at the Infectious Diseases Hospital, Yaba, Lagos.
The state chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Dr. Tope Ojo, who disclosed this at a press briefing in Lagos, said the strike would not stop doctors from attending to persons suspected to have contracted the Ebola virus.
Ojo said that some of its members had volunteered to join the Ebola Emergency Response and Management Committee working on the prevention and control of the disease at the IDH centre in Yaba.
Bu the state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, who debunked the rumour yesterday, at a news conference in Ikeja, said the female doctor who attended to the index case of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) at a private hospital in Lagos is the only confirmed case to date out of the eight primary contacts under clinical surveillance and care.
According to Idris, “the female doctor being infected is largely due to the fact that she was a primary contact when the index case presented. At that point in time, the disease was not known to have been imported into the country”, Idris explained.
He said contact tracing is essential and very important to stop the spread of EVD. “In the case of the newly-infected person, we have contacted her family and have opened comprehensive lists of both primary and secondary contacts of the newly-infected person.
“There is no panic as long as basic precautionary measures such as hand washing, adoption of appropriate waste management and enhanced personal/environmental hygiene are adhered to. This is a call for everyone to be vigilant, especially with regard to relating with people who are ill.”
Idris stated that it is important to continue to highlight the mode of transmission of Ebola, stressing that the disease is transmissible through direct contacts with broken skin, mucous membranes and secretions of infected persons or through direct contacts with materials and surfaces that have been contaminated by an infected person.
The commissioner noted that in Africa, infection has also occurred through the handling of infected chimpanzees, monkeys, guerillas, fruit bats, antelopes and porcupine, adding that there had been no case of transmission by domestic animals like pigs.
He said though it was an emergency situation, government was educating people with the right information and putting measures on ground to curtail the outbreak. Warning the public to be mindful of a claim that bitter kola cures the disease, Idris said such has not been scientifically verified, insisting that there was presently no known cure for Ebola.
However, he clarified that the case can be medically managed, mostly when the patient reports on time. “The disease does not have specific cure or vaccine but it is not all people who had Ebola that have died. The fatality rate is between 40 and 90 per cent. So, 60 or 10 per cent of the patients will still live depending on how they are managed,” he stated.
Idris said precautionary measures such as hand washing, adoption of appropriate waste management and enhanced personal and environmental hygiene are relevant especially when large congregations are expected with a mix of people from other parts of the world. He commended the responsiveness and co-operation received from the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) in this regard during the church’s on-going national convention.
His words: “We went to Synagogue Church, Pastor T. B. Joshua said he was not organising any programme because of Ebola, that he was travelling out of the country. We commended the responsiveness of and co-operation received from the RCCG in this regard during the ongoing convention.”
While appreciating various health workers who have selflessly committed to this cause of preventing the spread of the virus in the areas of contact tracing, case management, decontamination, Idris appealed to other health workers like doctors, nurses, environmental health workers and phlebotomists to complement the state health workforce.
He allayed the fears of health workers who have the requisite expertise needed to manage both the confirmed and probable cases of Ebola. Idris disclosed that the government was considering better allowance for people who would volunteer to handle the cases. “Between Lagos and Federal Governments at this point, we have set politics aside to face the issue,” he said.
He explained relevant digital platforms have been set up for ease of reference, information and communication flow. These platforms are, Help line: 0800 EBOLA HELP(0800326524357); Website: www.ebolaalert.org; Facebook: fb.com/ebolaalert; and Twitter: @ebolaalert.
Meanwhile, striking doctors in Lagos State yesterday volunteered to join the team of experts managing patients at the Infectious Diseases Hospital, Yaba, Lagos.
The state chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Dr. Tope Ojo, who disclosed this at a press briefing in Lagos, said the strike would not stop doctors from attending to persons suspected to have contracted the Ebola virus.
Ojo said that some of its members had volunteered to join the Ebola Emergency Response and Management Committee working on the prevention and control of the disease at the IDH centre in Yaba.
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Ebola: Female doctor not dead – Lagos Govt |
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