A medical doctor has revealed how a nursing mother contracted the deadly Ebola virus at a Lagos hospital.
PUNCH Metro learnt that the woman was the
patient who visited the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation staff
clinic on Muri Okunola Street in the Victoria Island area of Lagos.
NNPC had issued a press statement on
Friday, saying that the clinic would be shut due to a suspected case of
Ebola reported in the clinic.
He said, “The lady attended ante-natal at
First Consultant prior to the arrival of the Liberian, Mr. Patrick
Sawyer. She was delivered of her baby at the hospital after which she
was discharged.
“A few weeks later, Mr. Sawyer came
around and was attended to by health workers. He was first treated for
malaria, then typhoid, before there was high index of suspicion. He
tested positive for Ebola and died.
“Then the woman, who gave birth at the
hospital came back to the hospital for her baby’s immunisation. The
nurses who attended to Sawyer also attended to her.
“When she visited the place again last
week, she discovered the place had been shut down for proper fumigation
as a means of control against Ebola.”
He said the nursing mother decided to visit a neighbouring clinic which was the NNPC clinic.
He said it was there she began her treatment after she fell ill.
“She was first treated for Malaria. However, after some medical tests, there was a high suspicion of Ebola haemorrhagic fever.
“On Friday, the Lagos State’s emergency
response team on Ebola virus came around and took her to the Infectious
Diseases Hospital,” he added.
Our correspondent learnt that the
yet-to-be-identified mother and her baby, who were taken away from the
hospital on Friday, had been quarantined.
Confirming the report, the Medical
Officer of Health, Iru-Victoria Island Local Council Development Area,
Dr. Wale Akeredolu, said the patient tested positive to the Ebola virus
after a second test was conducted on her.
He confirmed the incident at a
sensitisation programme organised for residents of the Eti-Osa Local
Government Area by the council on Monday.
He added, “The baby has also been
quarantined to see if after the incubation period of two to 21 days, she
would manifest the symptoms of Ebola.”
The council boss, Abayomi Daramola,
appealed to residents not to shirk their responsibilities on the pretext
of running away from the virus.
He said, “This is a trying time in
Nigeria. But the presence of Ebola does not mean people should run away
from their responsibilities. The public apprehension is what can even
spread the disease faster. So, people should just follow personal
hygiene, use sanitisers and wash their hands regularly.”
