A clinical epidemiologist, Akindele Adebiyi, has appealed to the federal and state governments to ensure adequate personal protective equipment for health workers to reduce the transmission of infectious diseases.

Mr Adebiyi, the president of the International Epidemiological Association, made the appeal in an interview on Thursday in Lagos.

According to him, appropriate use of PPE is a critical and effective strategy for protecting patients and healthcare providers from transmissible pathogens.

He noted that stringent attention to infection prevention and control measures in most hospitals had relapsed after COVID-19.

“If adequate PPE aren’t available at the healthcare level, we are putting the healthcare workers and patients at risk,” he said.

Mr Adebiyi said the perennial outbreak of Lassa fever and its debilitating effect on citizens and healthcare workers were worrisome. He stressed the need for concerted efforts to reduce the burden of the disease.

Mr Adebiyi also stressed the need for strengthened infection prevention and control (IPC) measures and training and retraining healthcare workers on standard safety precautions and reminders pasted in hospitals.

“Whether it is Lassa fever, meningitis, mpox, or cholera, we don’t want patients to come in with one disease and leave with an additional one,” he said.

He advised healthcare workers to have a high index of suspicion for every case, noting that the triage of patients should be intensified and designated sites should be set up in healthcare facilities.

Mr Adebiyi appealed to the government to ensure adequate provision of Ribavirin, especially in high-burden areas, noting that early treatment would reduce case fatality.

He also appealed to the government to ensure a good surveillance system that would aid prompt detection of Lassa fever to reduce transmission.

Mr Adebiyi stressed the need to enhance the sensitisation of the public to the prevention and transmission of Lassa fever. He explained that maintaining optimum hygiene was critical to prevent infections.

Lassa fever is an acute viral haemorrhagic illness transmitted to humans through contact with food or household items contaminated with rodent urine or faeces.

In hospitals lacking adequate infection prevention and control measures, person-to-person infection and laboratory transmission can also occur.

Data from the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) showed that 573 cases of Lassa fever were confirmed in 24 states between January 1 and February 25, from which 17 healthcare workers were affected.

The NCDC noted that 108 deaths had been reported with a case fatality rate (CFR) of 18.8 per cent, which is higher than the CFR for the same period in 2023.

Also, data from the Africa CDC estimates 100,000 to 300,000 annual Lassa fever infections in West Africa, with approximately 5,000 deaths. 

(NAN)