The Chief Medical Director of the Seventh Day Adventist Hospital, Ile Ife, Dr. Akin Obisanya, has debunked the rumour that a nurse in the hospital, Mr. John Tambaya, died of the Ebola virus or any mysterious ailment.

 

Obisanya, who briefed journalists in Osogbo on Monday, said Tambaya died of staphylococcus, which he got from food he ate at the theatre, where he worked tirelessly to save other people’s lives.

 

Tambaya, a surgeon and three other nurses, who worked at the hospital’s theatre, had gone down with sickness.

 

The victims were reported to have diarrhea and vomiting with tremor.

He said the five-man team, due to the large volume of work they were doing at the theatre when the health workers were on strike in public hospitals, did not always eat food given to them on time.

 

He explained that the staphylococcus might have infected their food at the theatre because other workers and patients, who ate the same food prepared at the hospital’s kitchen, were not affected by any sickness.

 

The CMD added that he had been receiving calls from friends, relatives and patients already scheduled for surgical operations that the hospital was not safe, assuring the concerned persons that the hospital had been fumigated.

 

Obisanya said Tambaya and other affected workers of the SDA were taken to the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital after the deceased did not respond well to treatment but he died last Friday.

 

He said the four other workers, who were down with the same symptoms, were now okay while the surgeon had been discharged.

 

Explaining the possible way the medical workers contracted the infection, Obisanya said the hospital could not trace the sickness to any particular patient, saying the medical workers operated on many patients.

 

He described as untrue the claim that they developed the sickness after they carried out a surgical operation on a patient.

 

The CMD said, ” Two days after the strike in public hospitals, Tambaya fell sick. We thought it was malaria and we treated him; he was later taken to the OAUTHC because we thought we might be missing something. “He was better but two days before he died, his blood pressure went down and the tremor continued. His blood sample was taken for tests and he tested negative to lassa fewer, dengue fever.

 

“The report shows that he died of staphylococcus, which they got from the food served them and which they ate at the theatre. Everybody has staphylococcus and it is present on the skin, in the mouth and other places. It thrives on food”