Lassa fever patient dies at Bedfordshire hospital in UK

Lassa fever patient dies at Bedfordshire hospital in UK
February 12, 2022, 8:23 am

London Bridge Hospital/Pixabay

The BBC reported, East of England hospital trust has confirmed, a person being treated for Lassa fever in the hospital has died.

The patient died at Luton and Dunstable Hospital, run by the Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said the person who died was being treated for the animal-borne disease, which is endemic in parts of West Africa.

It said the risk to the public was "very low".

The death comes as the third case of Lassa fever was identified in the UK in the last few days.

Dr Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser at UKHSA, said that all three cases were within the same family and were linked to recent travel to West Africa.

The cases are the first of the disease to be confirmed in the UK in more than a decade.

NHS East of England has now declared a "regional major incident".

The BBC understands this is because two of the patients were treated at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge before being transferred to a London hospital.

Lassa fever kills at least 32 in Nigeria since beginning of 2022

In a statement, the NHS said: "UKHSA advice is that some staff at the hospitals where the patients have been treated may need to undergo testing and wear more personal protective equipment (PPE) than normal.

"Staff in direct contact with confirmed cases will have to self-isolate for a period of time. This is standard procedure and precautionary only.

"Because of the impact this will have on staffing key services in our region, we have declared a regional major incident. This allows the region's healthcare systems to work together to keep services running safely."

80 deaths reported across Nigeria following spread of Lassa fever

Before the three recent cases, eight cases of Lassa fever had been identified in the UK since 1980.

The recent cases are the first of the disease to be confirmed in the UK since 2009.

Source: BBC

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