Lassa fever amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa: A rising concern, efforts, challenges, and future recommendations.
J Med Virol
; 93(12): 6433-6436, 2021 12.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1557694
ABSTRACT
Lassa fever, caused by the Lassa virus of the Arenaviruses family, is a re-emerging public health concern that has led to 300,000 infections and 5000 deaths annually in Africa. Highly prevalent in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, Nigeria, Côte d'lvoire, Ghana, Togo, and Benin, patients infected with the virus can manifest with cough, sore throat, headache, nausea, and vomiting among other symptoms. Coexisting with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and its impacts, cases of Lassa fever in the African population have been reported to decrease due to hesitancy in visiting clinics that leads to unreported cases-all contributing to a silent outbreak in West Africa. Thus, to overcome current burdens, gaps, and challenges caused by Lassa fever amidst COVID-19 in Africa, various recommendations for efficient control of transmission, measures for disease containment, and strategies to correct misperceptions were made.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Patient Acceptance of Health Care
/
COVID-19
/
Lassa Fever
Type of study:
Diagnostic study
/
Observational study
Topics:
Vaccines
Limits:
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
Africa
Language:
English
Journal:
J Med Virol
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Jmv.27219
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