Lassa fever condition of the Frankfurt patient unchanged

Patient continues to lie on the special isolation station
Since mid-March, a man from Rhineland-Palatinate with suspected Lassa fever is on the isolation ward of the University of Frankfurt. There is currently no new information about the condition of the patient, according to the head of the Frankfurt health department, René Gottschalk, on request of the "Frankfurter Rundschau". The man had been infected while working in a funeral home by an infected body with the dangerous Lassa virus.

Undertaker gets infected while working on a corpse
About two weeks ago it became known that a patient suffering from Lassa fever had been admitted to the special isolation ward of the Frankfurt University Hospital. The man works in a funeral home in Alzey (Rhineland-Palatinate) and had apparently been infected there in contact with a deceased Lassa patient a few weeks ago, reported the "dpa", citing the district administration Alzey -Worms. The American had previously worked as a nurse in his native Togo and had died at the end of February in the University Hospital Cologne.

Picture: fotohansel - fotolia

In order to transfer the body to Africa, she had been taken to the funeral home in Alzey at the beginning of March - without the knowledge that the man was suffering from Lassa fever. This turns out first a few days later, after which the employee of the Undertaker company investigated and finally the virus was detected. The man was immediately taken to the Frankfurt University Hospital and has since been on the special isolation station. However, despite the signs of a serious viral infection, doctors were optimistic about their chances of recovery when they were admitted. But as the head of the Frankfurt Health Department announced now, there is currently no new information about the condition of the patient.

Suspicion in Dusseldorf not confirmed
Also in the University Hospital in Dusseldorf are currently three patients under observation who had contact with the deceased Americans. In two cases, however, the clinic was able to give the all-clear last week, as the original suspicion of Lassa fever in repeat tests had not been confirmed. https://www.heilpraxisnet.de/naturheilpraxis/verdacht-auf-lassa-fieber-in-deutschland-nicht-bestaetigt-2016031959502

Transmission is by rodent
Lassafieber belongs as e.g. Ebola and Dengue to the so-called "hemorrhagic fever diseases". It occurs mainly in West Africa, where the pathogens are transmitted by the Natal multi-teat mouse (Mastomys natalensis). The transfer takes place via contact or smear infection (for example via contaminated food) first to humans and then often further from person to person, e.g. about blood, saliva, vomit or bleeding drops.

The virus can cause fever, headache and muscle pain, and in the further course of skin bleeding, diarrhea and vomiting are possible. In an emergency, the infection can lead to internal bleeding and thus become life-threatening. According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) stuck annually about 100,000 to 300,000 people with the virus, up to two percent die from it. In Germany, the Lassa fever is very rare when it is imported by travelers from Africa. According to the RKI, only six introduced diseases have been registered since 1974. (No)