A reliable source, who confirmed this development to Punch Newspaper correspondent in Lagos on Tuesday, said the patient was brought in by members of the health authorities at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, to the hospital on Monday.
According to the doctor who was on duty when the patient was admitted into the Accident and Emergency Unit, the patient was vomiting blood and stooling, symptoms which are similar to that of an Ebola patient, before he died in the early hours of Tuesday at the Spill-Over ward of the hospital.
He said,
"They rushed him to the Accident and Emergency Unit, and since he was vomiting and purging and he also had high fever, we quickly took his temperature, it was very high. We were all scared to take his blood samples because we were not wearing any Protective Protective Equipment.
"We had to take him out of the emergency ward to the other spill-over ward to avoid any form of contamination. We also reported to the Lagos State Government so that they can take him to the Infectious Diseases Hospital in Yaba for proper treatment. But he had started vomiting blood by this morning , and few hours after he died."
The doctor said that the body has being transferred to the Mainland Hospital, Yaba, for testing and confirmation of the cause of death.
The source said, "Like I said, we could not take any blood sample when he was alive because we were not wearing PPE, and we could not manage him effectively because of the severity of the symptoms we saw and considering the fact that he was coming from the airport. He could have been coming from an Ebola-affected country.
"They will need to establish the cause of death, so as to be able to know whether to quarantine those that he had contact with from the airport to the hospital. LUTH does not have the facilities to handle any suspected case of Ebola, government should know that, so they don't keep bringing suspected cases here. All suspected cases should be taken to IDH."
When contacted, the LUTH Chief Medical Director, Prof. Akin Oshibogun, said the death of the patient is still being investigated.
Oshibogun said,
"We have been able to establish that this patient has no history of Ebola or any contact with a person that had Ebola. We are only trying to investigate the patient. If there is any new thing, we will let you know. As long as we are in the hospital, from time to time, we will always have high index suspicion and most times these patients turn out to be negative.
"There is a difference between suspected or confirmed cases . We are only investigating the case to protect our people. We have had that situation two times in the hospital now. If we have a case we will announce it. In the case of this patient, for the fact that a patient has high index suspicion does not make the patient an Ebola patient. When you create panic many nurses may decide to abandon the patients."
A twitter handle monitored by PUNCH ONLINE also confirmed the incident. See tweet below:
So yeah we just confirmed the rumour is true..a suspected ebola case in luth.. we can't say more due to px confidentiality..
— Doctors Magazine Nig (@doctorsmag) Septemb er 2, 2014
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CONTINUED FROM 02/SEPTEMBER/2014
The Whiteman's school was called St. Aquinas primary school and it was situated in town. It was Garba's first time in the town. He was surprised to see houses that were different from the mud and thatched huts in his village. The houses were built with blocks and were well - aligned. The school was built with both blocks and planks. It was on a hill. The Whiteman handed them over to another Whiteman whom he introduced as Mr. Jacobs. A black native was interpreting whatever the white men wanted them to hear. "Mr. Jacobs is your head teacher. He is also the boarding house master. You must see him as your parent here. He will discipline you if you misbehave here. So you all must be of good behaviour,' the Whiteman said as he handed them over to Mr. Jacobs. "Follow me," Mr. Jacobs said. They followed him into a house. The house was very neat and there were many bunk beds with thin mattresses. The black interpreter was with them. Mr. Jacobs turned to them. Garba thought he preferred the Whiteman who had brought them from Dogongari because he was friendlier and nicer. "What is your name? I want your full names," he said. "Adamu Shalt," the first boy replied. "Kaita Maigoro," the second boy said. When it got to Garba's turn, he lost his tongue. "What is your name," Mr. Jacobs barked. "Garba Dandogo," Garba stammered. When the introduction was finished, Mr. Jacob began to address them. "This is where you will he staying. It's your hostel, it was provided by the church for those of you from the hinterlands. You will do well to maintain it and keep it clean," Mr. Jacobs said. He assigned them each to their beds. Garba was on the lower bunk. He had never slept on such a bed before. At home he only slept on a mat spread on the floor of his mother's hut. He sat gingerly on the bed and as soon as he did, he heard a creaking sound of spring expanding under his weight. Quickly, he jumped up in horror. The interpreter laughed. Mr. Jacobs considered him grimly for a moment. "What's the problem, boy?" "I heard a sound in the bed," Garba explained after the native had interpreted to him. Mr. Jacobs frowned. TO BE CONTINUED TOMORROW....PLEASE VISIT OUR BLOG AGAIN TOMORROW FOR A CONTINUATION OF THIS AMAZING STORY!}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}
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