Nassarawa state government is set to establish Lassa fever testing center, following the death of two consultant gynaecologists, a woman and the baby.
The two gynaecologist were said to have lost their lives as a result of the surgery they performed on a woman suspected to be a carrier of Lassa fever that was bleeding after delivering a baby at the facility.
Chief Medical Director, Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital, Dr. Ikrama Hassan, while addressing the Health workers during a solidarity procession held in honor of their colleague said:
“We cannot do testing here because there is no testing facility in Nasarawa, and the woman’s case was an emergency.
“So we believed that is how the two doctors contracted the virus. Unfortunately, we lost the doctors as well as the mother and her baby,” the CMD added.
If there was a testing centre here, I believe test for Lassa fever would have been conducted before carrying out the surgery.
“Gone are the days when a patient has to wait for many days before getting a test result,” the CMD declared.
“We immediately traced all the personnel’s in the hospital that had contacts with the deceased to the patient and the doctors.
“All the contacts, including medical personnel in the hospital, had tested negative and free from Lassa fever at the moment,” he said.
He further stated that all medical personnels and those that had contact with the deceased has been accessed through contact tracing and they all tested negative to the virus.
Dr. Ikrama said he would do everything within his powers to ensure that Nasarawa gets a testing centre for Lassa fever.
