Acute Viral Diseases: Lassa Fever

Lassa fever is an acute viral disease found in a family of viruses called the Arenaviridae. All arenaviruses are infected by human contacts with rodent hosts in which viral particles are contained in the lipid membrane and from which ribosomes are obtained (The Disease for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014). Lassa fever was first described in Sierra Leone in the 1950s, but before the death of two nurses in Nigeria in 1969, the virus that caused the disease was not identified as Lassa fever (Ogbu, O, Ajuluchukwa, E, & Uneke, C.

Lassa fever or Lassa hemorrhagic fever (LHF) is the acute viral hemorrhagic fever caused by Lassa virus first reported in Lhasa, Borno, Nigeria in 1969. Lassa fever is a member of the Arenavirus family. Like Ebola virus, the clinical case of this disease is more than 10 years old, but it is irrelevant to viral pathogens.

Viral hemorrhagic fevers such as Ebola virus disease, Lassa fever virus, Rift Valley fever, Marburg virus and Bolivian hemorrhagic fevers, etc. can become a pandemic is theoretically very contagious and fatal disease. However, the expansion of these viruses requires intimate contact with the infected vector, and because the vector is brief before death or serious illness, those that diffuse effectively to cause a pandemic The ability is limited. In addition, a short period of time between the onset of a carrier and the onset of symptoms allows medical professionals to quickly isolate the vectors and prevent them from carrying pathogens elsewhere. Genetic variation may occur and may increase the likelihood of extensive harm; therefore, close observation by infectious disease experts is worthwhile

Lassa virus is an acute viral hemorrhagic fever that is prevalent in West Africa. It is a zoonos infection spreading to humans when exposed to urine, feces, or excreta from Mastomys Natalensis (commonly known as "hyperlipidemia"). The virus does not affect rats. As infected rats are asymptomatic throughout their lifetime, they function as carriers of Lassa virus. Lassa virus infects almost all tissues of the human body. Interpersonal communication can also occur without proper attention. The symptoms of this disease range from fever to encephalitis, and in the case of fetus it may die. The mortality rate is 15-20%, but the mortality rate of pregnant women is fairly high. Hearing loss is a general long-term result of this disease after recovery. Ribavirin is the only medicine known to treat this disease and can only be used if it is in the early stages of infection.