Grapevine

Lassa Fever: NCDC links increasing fatality rate to late medical care

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) attributes the rise in fatalities caused by Lassa fever to delays in seeking medical attention by infected individuals.

NCDC, its latest situation report on the disease, said late presentation of cases is leading to an increase in the case fatality rate of Lassa fever.

The report, issued on Wednesday, also links the rise in death cases to a country-wide poor health-seeking behaviour resulting from what it described as the high cost of treatment and clinical management of Lassa fever.

The report reads in part: “Late presentation of cases leading to an increase in CFR. Poor health-seeking behaviour due to the high cost of treatment and clinical management of Lassa fever and poor environmental sanitation conditions observed in high-burden communities”.

It added that poor awareness has been observed in high-burden communities.