Ebola scare at LUTH

There was an uproar at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba, on Monday when a sick woman sneezing, coughing and oozing blood was adjudged to have contracted Ebola Virus Disease (EVD).

The incident occurred on a day the city of Lagos was hit by fears of the spread of the virus, following the confirmation by minister of health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu, that a Lagos doctor who attended to late Liberian carrier, Patrick Sawyer, had come down with the disease.

However, a top medical source at LUTH dismissed the claims of Ebola, detailing the patient’s medical history and the test conducted on her, which turned out negative.

“The woman believed to be positive to EBola is actually a renal transplant patient,” the source said.

“She is 53 years old. She was transplanted in 2011. She only came to LUTH on Wednesday for the monthly screening: a renal function test, which is a normal check-up for renal transplant patients.

“When she came yesterday, she complained of flu-like symptoms – sneezing, coughing, slight chest pain – but there was no fever. So we asked her some questions and she said she had not travelled in recent times. The last time she travelled out of Lagos at all was December 2013, and that was even to Imo state, in the south-east.

“She and her husband had not travelled for six months. She came for the test so that she could know her renal function status in order to prepare for another trip to India, because she must travel to India every two years.”

The source explained that when the woman arrived at Pathcare Laboratory, the venue of the test, which is located behind the LUTH’s emergency ward, she started coughing and sneezing, prompting panic from bystanders.

“She touched her ear to discover that there was blood; it was the blood that caused the raising of an alarm, because blood is one of the symptoms of Ebola,” the medic continued.

“Ebola is one of the haermorrhagic viruses that cause bleeding from all places. It could be ear; it could be nose; it could be mouth. It could be anywhere.

“Already, she had flu-like symptoms and we also observed that she was bleeding. When we examined her, we called in the chief security officer who isolated her in a special ward, as a barrier measure to minimise contact with other people. We put all measures in place for nursing.

“We now took her sample for screening and the result turned out negative. The management of LUTH had decided that if the test turned out positive, it would address a press conference to confirm the fears. I personally knew it was not Ebola, but it was important to hold the test and get the scientific position.”

The source allayed public fears about Ebola outbreak, saying health officials are doing their all to prevent an outbreak and are testing all suspected cases.

“As we speak, a sample for testing has just arrived from the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) hospital in Ikoyi.

“It’s a sample of someone suspected to have contracted Ebola. We will run the test and be sure if it’s negative or positive.”