Adventure Doc
keeping you healthy for life's adventures
Erik McLaughlin MD, MPH
Affiliates
LASSA FEVER
Basics:
Arena family viral illness lasting between 1 to 4 weeks. Symptoms include fever, vomiting/diarrhea, abdominal pain and sore throat with exudates. Roughly 80% of human infections are a symptomatic or very mild. The other 20% are a severe multi-organ system disease.
Location:
Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. Western Africa
Transmission/ Incubation:
Spread through either aerosolized or direct contact with infected rodent droppings/excreta. Specifically implicated is the Mastomys species or rat. Incubation period can be from 6-25 days
Prevention:
Vector control of Mastomys rats, cleaning of surfaces with contact of rodent urine/excreta or infected body fluids. 0.5% phenol or hypochlorite (bleach) solution is preferred and all lab equipment, etc. should be autoclaved. Isolate patient in negative pressure room, if possible.
Diagnosis:
IgM or ELISA
Treatment:
Ribavirin given in the first six days of illness is know to lessen the severity and duration of the illness. The standard dose of 30 milligrams per kilogram of patient weight (mg/kg) is given IV, as the first dose. 6 hours later a 15mg/kg dose is given every 6 hours for 4 days. 8mg/kg per 8 hours is used for another 6 days.
PRODUCT REVIEWS
Lassa Virus
Mastomys rodent, also known as the multimammate rat.
Note the hairless tail.
Wearing protective clothing -- an important part of practicing barrier nursing methods.
