Lassa fever overview: Difference between revisions
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==Overview== | ==Overview== | ||
'''Lassa fever''' is an acute [[virus|viral]] [[hemorrhagic fever]] first described in 1969 in the town of Lassa, Nigeria, located in the Yedseram river valley.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Frame JD, Baldwin JM, Gocke DJ, Troup JM |title=Lassa fever, a new virus disease of man from West Africa. I. Clinical description and pathological findings |journal=Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg. |volume=19 |issue=4 |pages=670-6 |year=1970 |pmid=4246571 |url=http://www.ajtmh.org/cgi/content/abstract/19/4/670}}</ref> Clinical cases of the disease had been known for over a decade earlier but not connected with this viral pathogen. The infection is [[endemic (epidemiology)|endemic]] in West African countries, and causes 300-500,000 cases annually with ~5,000 deaths.<ref name=Ogbu_2007>{{cite journal |author=Ogbu O, Ajuluchukwu E, Uneke CJ |title=Lassa fever in West African sub-region: an overview |journal=Journal of vector borne diseases |volume=44 |issue=1 |pages=1-11 |year=2007 |pmid=17378212 |doi=}}</ref> Outbreaks of the disease have been observed in Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, and the, Central African Republic, but it is believed that human infections also exist in Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, and Senegal. | '''Lassa fever''' is an acute [[virus|viral]] [[hemorrhagic fever]] first described in 1969 in the town of Lassa, Nigeria, located in the Yedseram river valley.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Frame JD, Baldwin JM, Gocke DJ, Troup JM |title=Lassa fever, a new virus disease of man from West Africa. I. Clinical description and pathological findings |journal=Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg. |volume=19 |issue=4 |pages=670-6 |year=1970 |pmid=4246571 |url=http://www.ajtmh.org/cgi/content/abstract/19/4/670}}</ref> The virus, a member of the virus family [[Arenaviridae]], is a single-stranded [[RNA virus]] and is [[zoonotic]], or animal-borne. Clinical cases of the disease had been known for over a decade earlier but not connected with this viral [[pathogen]]. The infection is [[endemic (epidemiology)|endemic]] in West African countries, and causes 300-500,000 cases annually with ~5,000 deaths.<ref name=Ogbu_2007>{{cite journal |author=Ogbu O, Ajuluchukwu E, Uneke CJ |title=Lassa fever in West African sub-region: an overview |journal=Journal of vector borne diseases |volume=44 |issue=1 |pages=1-11 |year=2007 |pmid=17378212 |doi=}}</ref> Outbreaks of the disease have been observed in Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, and the, Central African Republic, but it is believed that human infections also exist in Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, and Senegal. | ||
Lassa fever is also the most common hemorrhagic fever that is exported beyond its endemic area to countries like the United States, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Netherlands, Japan, and Israel. | Lassa fever is also the most common hemorrhagic fever that is exported beyond its endemic area to countries like the United States, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Netherlands, Japan, and Israel. While Lassa fever is mild or has no observable [[symptom]]s in about 80% of people infected with the virus, the remaining 20% have a severe multisystem disease. Lassa fever is also associated with occasional [[epidemic]]s, during which the [[case fatality rate]] can reach 50%. | ||
==Differentiating Lassa fever from other Diseases== | ==Differentiating Lassa fever from other Diseases== | ||
Revision as of 14:30, 20 December 2012
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
Overview
Lassa fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic fever first described in 1969 in the town of Lassa, Nigeria, located in the Yedseram river valley.[1] The virus, a member of the virus family Arenaviridae, is a single-stranded RNA virus and is zoonotic, or animal-borne. Clinical cases of the disease had been known for over a decade earlier but not connected with this viral pathogen. The infection is endemic in West African countries, and causes 300-500,000 cases annually with ~5,000 deaths.[2] Outbreaks of the disease have been observed in Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, and the, Central African Republic, but it is believed that human infections also exist in Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, and Senegal.
Lassa fever is also the most common hemorrhagic fever that is exported beyond its endemic area to countries like the United States, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Netherlands, Japan, and Israel. While Lassa fever is mild or has no observable symptoms in about 80% of people infected with the virus, the remaining 20% have a severe multisystem disease. Lassa fever is also associated with occasional epidemics, during which the case fatality rate can reach 50%.
Differentiating Lassa fever from other Diseases
Clinically, Lassa fever infections are difficult to distinguish from other viral hemorrhagic fevers such as Ebola and Marburg, and from more common febrile illnesses such as malaria.
References
- ↑ Frame JD, Baldwin JM, Gocke DJ, Troup JM (1970). "Lassa fever, a new virus disease of man from West Africa. I. Clinical description and pathological findings". Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg. 19 (4): 670–6. PMID 4246571.
- ↑ Ogbu O, Ajuluchukwu E, Uneke CJ (2007). "Lassa fever in West African sub-region: an overview". Journal of vector borne diseases. 44 (1): 1–11. PMID 17378212.