CONDEMNS REJECTION OF PATIENTS DOWN WITH FEVER
August 26, 2014 – The Lagos State Government said yesterday evening that three out of the five patients that have died from the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in Lagos, Nigeria were cremated.
Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris who address a press conference in company of his counterpart in Information and Strategy, Mr. Remi Ibirogba and Special Adviser to the Governor on Media, Alhaji Hakeem Bello in Lagos said that the other two were buried after their bodies were thoroughly decontaminated.
He said that there is only one confirmed case of Ebola in Lagos, Nigeria and one suspected case adding that the centre has screened and tracked a total of 321 contacts and that additional 10 contacts were listed on Monday.
He explained that 159 of the total contacts have been cleared while the state is following up on 158 contacts.
He cautioned managers of health facilities against rejecting febrile patients without proper assessment since the development could increase stigma and deter self-reporting.
“Not everybody with a fever or haemorrage has come down with EVD. A situation were these cases are automatically referred to Mainland General Hospital is not good practice”, he said.
He called on health workers to adopt basic universal precautions/barrier nursing adding that failure to adhere to these measure has led to deaths among health workers.
According to him, burial ceremonies where family members have direct contact with patients who died of EVD have also played a role in the spread adding that contact with dead bodies should be minimized during this period.
The commissioner noted that washing and burial and or disposal of dead bodies should be professionally handed with safety to the personal health of handlers being a cardinal focus.
