Health workers in Ogun State have been warned not to reject patients who come to their hospitals because of fear of contracting the Ebola virus disease (EVD).

 

Director, Hospitals Services at the state Hospital Management Board, Dr. Nurudeen Aigoro, who gave the warning during the EVD outbreak response training held for health workers at the state hospital, Ijaiye in Abeokuta, stated that it was better to attend to patients promptly to avoid untimely deaths.

 

He directed that any worker found defaulting should be reported immediately, even as he urged all hospitals to have infection control committees.

 

Also speaking, Director of Public Health Department in the state Ministry of Health, Dr. Quudus Yusuff, advised the health workers to avoid getting in contact with body fluids, while emphasising the importance of hand washing with soap and water.

 

In his presentation, the acting state Epidemiologist, Dr. Yufuf Akeem, advised health workers to discard used gloves in appropriate waste receptacle and never wash or reuse disposable gloves after treating a patient.

 

The Assistant Coordinator, Ogun State Ambulance and Emergency Services, Dr. Sedagbe Hunkokoe, also in his presentation, stated that at the end of the training, health workers should be able to identify suspected cases of EVD, determine appropriate personal protective equipment and how to use them to ensure safer care.

 

Delta Dispels Claims on Traditional Cure of Ebola Virus Disease

.. threatens to arrest trado-medical practitioner

 

Delta State Government has dispelled the rumor making the rounds that a traditional cure has been discovered in the state  for the cure of the deadly killer Ebola Virues Disease (EVD)   which has killed no less than eight persons since it breakout in Lagos state a month ago.

 

The state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Joseph Otumara who debunked the claim during a television programme Thursday in Asaba, said no cure of Ebola virus has been discovered, warning that the general public should be very careful with such piece of information.

 

He said if any traditional medical practitioners have such a   claim, he or she should come forward for verification which will be channeled through the appropriate authorities.  

 

This was even as panic yesterday gripped the Federal Medical Centre, Asaba, the entire state and neighbourhoods following the report of the presence of a patient with the dreaded virus. A check at the hospital at Nnebisi/Anwai junction revealed near-empty wards, but there were doctors, nurses and other medical workers who merely strolled about.

 

Medical Director of the hospital, Dr. Leo Erhunmwunse, said the patient was brought in yesterday stooling and vomiting, two of the symptoms of the contagious disease, but that the accurate status was yet to be determined. And this could take a few more days. The doctor in Ebonyi was more alarmed when he discovered that the woman recently came into the state from Port Harcourt, Rivers State, which had recorded some cases of the diseases. An anonymous doctor, who though did not believe it was Ebola, said yesterday that they were still waiting for the test result but have left the hospital because of the “serious tension and panic there.”

 

Nevertheless, the Commissioner for Health, Dr Sunday Nwangele, urged the public to disregard the rumour, stating that the patient has peptic ulcer, not Ebola. He reiterated the state government’s preparedness to handle any outbreak. ‘Integrated traditional, orthodox medicines will boost disease control, others’

 

Rumoured presence of carriers stir panic in Ebonyi

THERE was panic in Ebonyi State Thursday following a rumour of the presence of an Ebola patient at the Federal Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki, which made all the doctors, nurses, workers, patients and visitors to the hospital to desert the hospital premises. 

 

However, the state government has cleared that the news was false, as there is no outbreak of Ebola in the state. The Guardian later learnt that the alarm was raised by a doctor while treating a patient with similar symptoms to Ebola.