Definition:
Lassa fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic fever named after the town in Lassa, Nigeria. The disease was first described in 1969 and is widespread in West African nations.
Diagnosis:
Laboratory test that aid in the diagnosis of Lassa fever include: ELISA test, IgM antibodies.
Treatment:
Patients with Lassa fever should be isolated and treated immediately with Ribavirin along with fluid replacement, fighting hypotension, and blood transfusion if necessary.
Symptoms and Signs:
Incubation period of Lassa fever is from 6 to 21 days, after which an acute disease develops affecting multiple organs of the human body.
Non-specific symptoms of Lassa fever include the following:
* Fever
* Facial swelling
* Muscle fatigue
* Inflammation of the conjunctiva (conjunctivitis) presenting pink or red eyes
* Mucosal bleeding
Lassa fever is a disease that involves multiple organs of the body. Additional symptoms affecting body organs vary depending on which structure is involved:
* If the gastrointestinal tract is involved, symptoms including nausea, bloody vomit, bloody diarrhea, stomach ache, constipation, swallowing difficulties, and hepatitis is likely to occur.
* If the involved organs are those within the cardiovascular system, pericarditis, hypertension, hypotension or abnormally high heart rate (tachycardia) will be manifested in the patient.
* Respiratory tract involvement may bring symptoms like dyspnea, pharyngitis, pleuritis, chest pain, or cough is likely to develop.
* Unilateral or bilateral hearing impairment, meningitis, seizures, or encephalitis are symptoms that will appear when the nervous system is involved.
Causes:
The disease is caused by Lassa virus; which is an enveloped, single-stranded, bisegmented RNA virus.
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