Lassa fever fatality rate doubles

The Medical Emergency Relief International (MERLIN), an NGO, has reported a doubling in deaths from Lassa fever in eastern Kenema District since January, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in its situation report for 10-24 July. The fatality rate has risen from 15 percent since January to 30 percent in June/July and three patients out of 10 new admissions last week died of the disease. MERLIN attributes the latest situation to a lack of outreach services in insecure areas, OCHA reported. An Afghan doctor working for the International Committee of the Red Cross died after contracting the disease while working in Kenema, the ICRC reported. Salahuddin Ramez, a surgeon at an ICRC funded hospital, died on Tuesday after being hospitalised in The Netherlands while visiting his family. Lassa fever, named after the northern Nigerian village in which it was first recorded in 1969, is characterised by a high fever, headaches, mouth ulcers, muscle pains, small haemorrhages under the skin, heart and kidney failure. The mortality rate is high. The disease, initially spread by rats and then from person to person, can kill within seven days.