Malaria: NCDC cautions against self medication

mosquito

Mosquito, Malaria agent

Mosquito, agent of Malaria

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Wednesday urged Nigerians to desist from self-medication and go for a laboratory test for malaria before treatment.

The Chief Executive Officer, NCDC, Dr Chike Ihekweazu, made the call in Abuja at a media advocacy meeting on Lassa fever outbreak.

Ihekweazu said although malaria symptoms also add fever, there is the need for medical personnel to carry out a test to ascertain if the fever was due to malaria or Lassa fever.

According to him, a laboratory test is necessary to ascertain a disease.

He explained that it was after a test was carried out and suspected ailment was ruled out that caregivers would go ahead and explore other options, like testing for Lassa fever and subsequently administering the right drug on time.

Ihekweazu advised health care workers to promptly report all frontline suspected cases of Lassa fever to local governments’ Disease Surveillance Officers (DSO).

He said since the beginning of the current dry season in December 2016, seven states had reported at least one case of Lassa fever, with 19 confirmed cases and six people dead.

He, however, noted that many laboratories in Nigeria do not have the capacity to diagnose Lassa fever.

He said that by the second quarter of this year, the National reference laboratory would be ready, where rapid diagnostic tests would be carried out on time.

He announced that “there is no vaccine that is clinically proven to be effective in the prevention of Lassa fever at the moment; we only have medical called Ribavrin to combat it for now.”

Dr Ihekerenma Okoli, the Assistant Director, Pest Control, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the ministry was collaborating with NCDC to bring down Lassa fever cases to the lowest minimum.

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Okoli said the ministry was proposing a sensitization programme on food processing and train farmers on better ways to dry their food products.

“We are working on a sensitisation programme to educate people on other methods of drying food products other than spreading them on the roads, where such foods can easily be contaminated by pests.

“We are also going to teach people how to use the modern dryer as a way of preserving food items.”

The Media Coordinator of NCDC, Dr Lawal Bakare, said the centre was collaborating with the Ministry of Agriculture to seek appropriate ways of food preservation that would prevent the spread of Lassa fever through rats and other rodents.

He then urged individuals to practice good hygiene, ensure foods were properly covered and adhere to constant hand washing and environments clean and tidy always.

According to Bakare, cleanliness is the best way of preventing rats and rodents.

The Connect Centre Respondent of NCDC, Ukenedo Chika, stressed the need for Nigerians to use the NCDC connect centre toll-free number, Twitter account and Facebook page.

He also urged individuals to practice good hygiene and avoid acts that could attract rats and rodents in the home.

Chika, who said trained professionals would be on standby to give out and collect information about suspected Lassa fever cases and other ailments gave the toll-free number as 080097000010 and Twitter and Facebook address as @ncdcgov.

First reported in 1969, Lassa fever was discovered in Lassa town in Borno.

Its symptoms include fever, severe headache, bleeding in nose, ears, among others.

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