The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, has denied the news making waves in some national newspaper about an outbreak of a ‘new deadly disease’ known as Steven Johnson Syndrome, alleged to have killed a medical doctor in the country.
According to a copy of the press briefing on Steven Johnson Syndrome, a rare adverse drug reaction, held last Friday at the radio house Abuja, Prof. Adewole, had mentioned clearly that Steven Johnson Syndrome is not a new disease and that it was first discovered in 1922. In the release titled ‘setting the record straight’, made available to National Mirror, the Director Media and Public Relations, Mrs. Boade Akinola wondered where the report about the so called ‘new deadly disease’ came from saying the minister had merely alerted the public that adverse drug reactions could occur following drugs that are prescribed by medical experts and warned member of the public against self-medication.
Mrs Akinola further said the minister had, at the press conference, informed that the late brother of the marathon runner Fadesola, Dr Adeyosola Adedayo, had died in 2012 due to an adverse drug reaction to medications he took after sustaining a needle stick injury while managing a patient that is living with HIV infections. He was managed for Stephen Johnson Syndrome at Lagos University Teaching Hospital Idi-Araba and died after few days due to severity of the disease.
The deceased doctor’s brother, Fadesola Adedayo, last Friday began a 17-day race to Lagos State from Abuja to sensitize people in the country on the rare disease, saying though he had lost his brother, he would inform people in the country on the need to be cautious of drugs consumption, by ensuring they only take medications recommended for them by medical practitioners. He would stop at 17 locations and run 17 kilometers per day. The Federal government has also provided police convoy and officials of the Federal Road Safety Commission to accompany him all through the period. He is also to be covered by all government-owned media stations in the country. Speaking at the flag-off of the journey in Abuja last weekend, Fadesola said he was compelled by the love he had for his country, and would never be happy to see another person die of what killed his brother or of any other preventable death in the country. Minister of Health, Prof Isaac Adewole captured the experience thus at the event: “An unusual event occurred in 2012. Dr Adeyosola Adedayo, medical doctor went for community services in Lagos. In the course of this, he sustained heuristic injury while managing a patient. That patient happened to be living with HIV. What to do normally as doctor is to assume that that person can also acquire infection, if we fail to take certain steps “Therefore, Dr Adeyosola Adedayo was placed on some medications, and we call this post-exposure prophylaxis, exposure because he has been exposed to someone, or the body fluid of someone infected with HIV; prophylaxis because we wanted to prevent him from acquiring infection. That is why we call it post-exposure.
“Sometimes, we talk about pre-exposure, in which case we have started building you, in case you come with a contact. Unfortunately, a simple measure designed to prevent this young man from acquiring HIV infection turned out to be a disaster. He developed an uncommon reaction, because that disease is not common.
He developed severe reaction that ultimately led to his death. This is a common hazard. “You can imagine a situation in our country, people take drug without prescription. People wake up and say “my colleague had this problem few weeks ago, this is the medication she used, I am going to use it.” And, you can imagine potentials that we all face as Nigerians when we take medications that are not prescribed. Even the ones that accomare prescribed can cause problem, how much more those ones that are not prescribed?,” he added.
A Senior Consultant Physician/Dermatologist at the National Hospital, Abuja, Olanrewaju Falodun, said Stephens Johnson Syndrome is an immune complex mediated hypersensitivity reaction that typically involves the skin and mucous membranes. He said the disease was first described in 1922 by Albert Stevens and Frank Johnson, and is caused by adverse drug reactions.
The condition usually begins with fever, sore throat, and fatigue, which is commonly misdiagnosed and therefore treated with antibiotics.
Ulcers and other lesions begin to appear in the mucous membranes, almost always in the mouth and lips but also in the genital and anal regions. Those in the mouth are usually extremely painful and reduce the patient’s ability to eat or drink.
By: Franka Osakwe and Marcus Fatuonmomole
National Mirror News
ABUJA: Training Schedule for Basic Life Support BLS, Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support ACLS, First Aid, CPR, AED
PORTHARCOURT: Training Schedule for Basic Life Support BLS, Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support ACLS, First Aid, CPR, AED
LAGOS: Training Schedule for Basic Life Support BLS, Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support ACLS, First Aid, CPR, AED
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