The Chief Medical Director, University College Hospital Ibadan, Prof. Temitope Alonge, said it was not true the teaching hospital had a patient suffering from Ebola Virus Disease in any of its wards.
A few days ago, it was reported that a patient with the symptoms of the dreaded disease visited the hospital from Lagos, causing panic and confusion among the staff and in-patients in the Accident and Emergency ward.
But addressing the media on Saturday, Alonge said after a test was carried out, it was discovered that the patient was suffering from Lassa fever.
Alonge explained that both Ebola and Lassa are of the same hemorrhagic fever type, adding that while Ebola remained deadly, Lassa fever could be treated and managed if it was reported early.
He said, “Four days ago, a patient was admitted to West West 3 ward after she put to bed. It was observed that she was bleeding continuously after the delivery and there was the fear of what it could be. Test was carried out on her and it was discovered that she had developed fever after delivery. She died while undergoing treatment.
“Also, there was another case of a young driver who was brought in from Lagos unconsciously in the early hours of Thursday. The nurses on duty had to screen and test him but because he was unconscious, the test had to be conducted extensively. The efforts of the nurses revealed that the patient had jaundice but when assessment commenced, the diagnosis of the blood sample showed Lassa fever. Immediately, the patient was moved to the e-tent from the triad bay for necessary treatments, but unfortunately, the patient died at about 8:45pm on Friday.”
Alonge added that the patient died as a result of severe complications which he suffered before he was brought to UCH. He also said the patient was rejected by all the hospital he was taken to before coming the UCH.
“The patient had developed system breakdown before getting to UCH but we tried our best. Our team of doctors had packed the corpse according to World Health Organisation standard on hemorrhagic fever and the relatives have been adequately informed,” he said
