Lassa fever kills 158 in 24 states within 6 months

Lassa fever have claimed 158 lives in 24 states since the beginning of this year, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control has said.

The NCDC, in its situation report yesterday, said the cases were recorded across 99 local government areas. 

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It said of all confirmed cases, 68 percent were from Ondo (29 percent); Edo, 25 percent and Bauchi, 14 percent.

“The predominant age-group affected is 21-30 years (Range: 1 to 90 years, Median Age:30 years). The male to female ratio for confirmed cases is 1:0.9,” the report stated.

 “Cumulatively from week 1 to week 24, 2022, 158 deaths have been reported with a case fatality rate (CFR) of 19.8 percent which is lower than the CFR for the same period in 2021 (20.5 percent).

For the epidemiological week 24, the NCDC said the number of new confirmed cases increased from seven  in week 23 to eight cases. These were reported from Ondo, Edo and Plateau States.

It said the number of suspected cases had increased compared to that reported for the same period in 2021.

It said no new healthcare worker was affected in the reporting week 24, and that the National Lassa Fever Multi-partner, Multi-sectoral Technical Working Group(TWG) continued to coordinate the response activities at all levels.