The Cost of Lassa Fever

Lassa fever isolation ward in Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Edo State

The pain seems not to be over yet for a nursing student from Ondo State, as she battles to save her mother from the Lassa Fever virus, having lost her father and brother to the dreaded disease within two weeks. Martins Ifijeh writes

For some Nigerians, the three months old Lassa Fever outbreak, which has so far taken close to 80 lives in the country, is a ‘far away’ disease, which probably take the lives of people who are not living normal lives, or who practically eat rats from the bush around their homes. To some others, it’s just a conspiracy theory, invented by certain professionals to siphon money or as a form of punishment by God towards bad people.

But to a nursing student from Ondo State, who does not want her name in print, the virus is real and does not know tribe, religion, or one’s amount of goodness. It has taken away the men in her life; from her brother to the man she regarded as her number one hero, her father. Yet, the pain is not over yet. Her mother is presently on admission at the Lassa Fever Centre in Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, in Edo State, battling to overcome the scourge.

When the year started, the family intended to make the best use of it and achieve all their plans for the year. But just few days into it, her brother got ill, showing signs of malaria or typhoid. There was no inkling he was suffering from the much talked about Lassa Fever. The nursing student thought the disease only existed on the pages of the newspapers or on televisions. With this perception, it was difficult to take her brother to any of the diagnostic centres for testing.

By the time they realised the disease was in the house, it was too late. The virus had eaten deep into him. He had started to vomit blood from every opening in him. He became weak, and in just few days, he became a shadow of his former self. Then on the 10th of January, the country lost another citizen to the scourge.

“Just when we were still wondering how he got infected with the virus, my dad fell ill. But it didn’t occur to us that it was the same virus that killed my brother that was manifesting in our father. We thought it was the loss of the boy that was affecting him psychologically. Few days after, my Mum became ill as well,” she explained.

The nursing student, who spoke to THISDAY at the lobby of the Lassa Fever isolation ward of Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital in Edo State, explained that before they could contact Ondo State government, because they live in Akure, their father had become seriously ill.

“Last week, we then brought my parents down to this Centre for diagnosis and treatment. And we were told they needed to commence treatment as soon as possible because their cases were presented late,” she explained.

According to her, for each day, her Dad was given up to 17 bottles of Ribavirin, while the Mum still consumes as much as 13 bottles of Ribavirin. “The doctor said the amount of Ribavirin per patient vary because of the patient’s weight,” she explained.

She said despite being told from Ondo State that Lassa Fever treatment was free, she has spent over one hundred thousand naira since the past six days when she brought her parents to the ward. “The testing we did was totally free, same with the Ribavirin that was administered to my parents. Though my dad died few days ago, my Mum is still on Ribavirin. But all other treatments are not free. Patients have to pay for them. There are other treatments, including blood transfusion, drugs, among others. That is what patients have to spend money on. I have spent over a hundred thousand naira already.

“There was a time they said the drug was scarce, and that we might have to be buying it. I think a bottle cost one thousand naira or thereabout. But we are lucky they didn’t talk about us buying it again. Maybe it’s no more scarce. I wonder how I would have been able to cope buying up to 13 bottles for my Mum every day, or 17 bottles for my dad, who unfortunately still lost his life to the disease,” she explained.

She also told THISDAY that though she tested negative to the virus, the hospital management has placed her on Ribavirin, as she was being monitored as well for the disease. “Even my other siblings back home are also on the treatment. I know if anyone is infected, once treatment is accessed on time, there is a high possibility of being treated successfully.”

She called on the hospital management and the government to do all they can to save her Mum, as she will be unable to cope with losing three people in her house to the outbreak. “Please, help me tell them to do all they can to save my Mum. She doesn’t deserve the pain she is undergoing now,” she said tearfully.

Her tale resonates the desire to live in a country where disease outbreaks are no more, so that loved ones would not be dying before their prime. Her tale also brought to fore, the government’s level of desire to stamp the outbreak out of the country.

One, again, then wonders why patients would have to pay for treatment from an outbreak currently on an epidemic proportion, considering that the more people are unable to pay for their treatment, the more they are more likely not to patronise the hospital for fear of paying for the huge cost of treatment, or the more other people will be at risk.

This therefore prompted THISDAY to speak with one of the health workers in the Lassa Fever Centre, who said he preferred to remain anonymous because he was not qualified to speak on the issue.

According to him, the reality on ground is that Lassa Fever treatment is not free, despite government reiterating that the treatment is free. “Apart from test and Ribavirin treatment, every other one is out-of-pocket treatment. There are some patients who sometimes need dialysis because their body fluid would have to be balanced. Such persons are asked to pay for sessions of dialysis, and we all know how much a dialysis session cost. Most of them would have to get blood infusion, so they must buy the blood. Same for other types of drugs needed for the treatment of Lassa Fever,” he revealed.

He explained that there was an instance where a particular Lassa Fever patient needed blood transfusion, but had no money, and it was clear that if nothing was done, the possibility of losing him to the virus was high. So the staff in the Centre had to contribute money just to buy the blood and save his life.

“My pain is that government should stop telling Nigerians that Lassa Fever treatment is free, whereas, its not free. Apart from test and Ribavirin, every other treatment is paid for. We on the inside know how patients pay through their nose just to access care. This is a serious outbreak that government shouldn’t play with. Allowing people to pay for treatment will even defeat the idea that all efforts are on ground to contain the outbreak,” he said.

He also said that despite the fact that everyone was talking about the outbreak, government has done nothing to upgrade the various laboratories, to better tackle the diagnosis and treatment. “In our Centre here at Irrua, nothing has been done to upgrade this place since the outbreak started. All Centres in the country should be better equipped against the scourge,” the health worker said.

When THISDAY sought an audience with the Chief Medical Director of ISTH, Irrua, Dr. Sylvanus Okogbenin, he said Mondays were his busiest days of the week, and such would not be able to speak with the media, not even on phone. He promised to arrange for a meeting, which didn’t come as at the time of going to press.

With almost 80 persons said to have lost their lives due to the outbreak within three months, with the latest being the two persons that lost their lives at the Lassa Fever Centre in Irrua, experts believe the government needs to do more to contain the outbreak.

When compared to the last Ebola outbreak, those who have died from the scourge in the country are over 800 per cent more than those who were lost due to the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak.

The government had consistently said that, apart from the Centre in Irrua, there were 13 other Lassa Fever centres in the country. But THISDAY investigation suggests that there are only two Lassa Fever diagnostic and treatment centres currently serving the over 180 million persons living in the country. The two centres being the ISTH, Irrua in Edo State, and the Centre at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH.
Time will tell how much longer the citizens have to suffer before the outbreak can become history.