 |
Jide Idris, Lagos State Commissioner
for Health
|
As Nigerians continued to mourn Dr.
Stella Adadevoh on Wednesday, another sad news broke on Wednesday
that five fresh suspected cases of Ebola Virus Disease had been
reported in Lagos State.
The state Commsioner for Health, Dr. Jide
Idris, who announced this shortly after the Federal Government gave
an indication that it might immortalise Adadevoh, said another Liberian
was among the new suspected cases.
Adadevoh, the first confirmed Nigerian to be diagnosed with the EVD , died on Tuesday evening.
She contracted the disease while
treating the index case, Mr, Patrick Sawyer, at the First Consultants
Medical Centre, Lagos where she served as the Lead Consultant.
Before her death, Adadevoh was one of the three patients that were left at the Lagos isolation centre as of Monday.
Idris, who addressed journalists in
Alausa, Ikeja, said before the five fresh cases were brought in, the
Lagos isolation centre had two suspected Ebola patients.
He was however quick to explain that the
Liberian, who was one of the five new cases, was allowed to go after
getting a clean bill.
He said, “The fresh suspected cases have increased the number of those in isolation wards from two to six.
“Till date, we have recorded eight
suspected cases, five of which were brought in yesterday(Tuesday). We
have 12 confirmed cases on the whole out of which five have died and
five have been discharged.
“We are currently following up on 213 contacts. Sixty two have completed the 21-day follow-up.”
The commissioner described Adadevoh and other health workers at the FCMC as heroes.
He said, “Yesterday (Tuesday), we
recorded the death of the Senior Consultant/Endocrinologist of First
Consultant, Dr. Adadevoh.
“She, it was, who took the initiative to
intimate the ministry concerning the index case and subsequently to her
credit, the moderate containment achieved.”
Idris said the state Ministry of Health was continuing with contact tracing which has now shifted from primary to secondary.
He added, “This is call for vigilance as
human transmission is only achieved by physical contact with a person
who is acutely and gravely ill from Ebola virus through body fluids such
as blood, urine, stool, saliva, breast milk, semen and vomitus.
“Burial ceremonies where mourners,
including family members, have direct contact with the corpse have also
played a role in the spread. Direct contact with dead bodies should be
minimised at this period.”
He insisted that the state was still not convinced that, a controversial trial drug, Nano Silver, could cure the virus.
No comments:
Post a Comment