FLASH: One feared dead as strange killer disease hits Nigeria, this is how you can contract it
– Doctor warns over symptoms of the strange disease
– Health minister says the situation is under control
– Urges Nigerians not to panic as the federal government would curtail it soon
Nigerians have been cautioned over a strange killer disease known as Stevens-Johnson Syndrome, which has reportedly claimed one life already.
While addressing a news conference in Abuja, Professor Isaac Adewole, Nigeria’s minister of Health, explained that the disease already killed one person and that another person suspected to have been affected by the disease was responding to treatment at the National Hospital, Abuja.
Professor Adewole described the disease as an unusual allergic reaction to medications and urged Nigerians not to panic as the federal government is doing everything within its power to put an end to it.
“We have to find a means to communicate with Nigerians, so they should all be aware of this dangerous disease and it is the sole business of the government to enlighten the society by trying to increase their awareness, knowledge and to improve their quality way of life,” he was quoted to have said.
Daily Post reports that at the press conference also, Dr Olanrewaju Falodun, a senior consultant physician at the National Hospital, Abuja, said: “SJS is an immune complex mediated hypersensitivity reaction that typically involves the skin and mucous membranes and was first described in 1922 by Albert Stevens and Frank Johnson.
“SJS is a rare and unpredictable reaction, and is also a minor form of toxic epidermal necrolysis with less than 10 per cent body surface area involvement.
“SJS is a rare but serious and potentially life-threatening contagious drug reaction. Incidence of SJS is estimated between 1.1 and 7.1 cases per million per year and is more prevalent in women than men. Incidence in Europe is two per million per year.”
On the symptoms of the disease, Dr Idris Durojaiye who is a pathologist, stated thus: “The whole skin will peel off but it is usually linked to a drug that the person has taken, so if there is an outbreak, it is because people are reacting to a particular drug being circulated.
“It is usually doctors that can try to identify the drugs that may be responsible because if there is an outbreak, it means there is a pattern. So basically, it is the duty of the health authorities to trace the pattern to know if there is a particular drug that is responsible for it.
“Normally, a patient cannot know if he would react to a drug because you cannot know if you have never reacted to the drug before. So my advice is that whatever drugs that people have reacted to in the past, they should try and avoid it. But the problem is that if you have never taken a drug before, you cannot know if you will react to it.
“If the health authorities can find out if the patients took something that is common to both of them; there has to be a link somewhere if the patients are in the same location.”
Nigerians will recall that the widespread of Ebola, Lassa Fever, Avian Influenza, among other strange illnesses also started this way, especially the Ebola virus disease, which is easily contracted via body contact.
Although the citizens have been asked to be at alert, the federal government assures that the new disease will be put under total control soon.
Recently, more than 38 people were killed by a strange illness in Saburi 1, a slum settlement in the Dei-Dei axis of the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) of the Federal Capital Territory.
The victims who died in strange circumstances were said to have complained of headache or fever.
Daily Sun reports that they possibly took medication from the patent medicine dealers, and the next you will hear is that they have died. The residents were gripped with fear once again following the reported death of a 14-year-old girl identified as Mariam Mustapha, who died last weekend in similar circumstance.
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