Jakarta –
Recently, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) reported that the country had detected cases of Lassa fever. This is the first time the UK has detected Lassa fever in more than a decade.
Local health officials said the total number of confirmed cases of Lassa fever in the UK was three. All the cases identified were from the eastern region of England and one person who traveled to South Africa recently.
Of the three cases, one of them was reported to have died on Friday (11/2/2022). Previously, the patient was still under investigation and being treated at Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
“We can confirm the death of a patient of ours who has confirmed Lassa fever. We send our deepest condolences to their families at this difficult time,” said Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Independent UKMonday (14/2/2022).
“We will continue to work closely with colleagues from the UK Health Security Service to conduct robust contact tracing exercises.”
This is the third death from Lassa fever recorded in the UK. However, this is the first case of death from the recent outbreak.
Local officials said one case of Lassa fever had recovered, while the other was being treated at the Royal Free London Foundation Trust.
UKHSA has also contacted people who had close contact with previous confirmed cases of Lassa fever. Even so, the risk to the general public is still very low.
“UKHSA and NHS have adequate and robust infection control procedures in place to deal with imported infectious disease cases and these will be strengthened,” said Dr Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser at UKHSA.
What is Lassa fever and how bad is it? Read on the following page.
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