Open AccessResearch as a pillar of Lassa fever emergency response: lessons from Nigeria
Author(s) -
Adebola Olayinka,
Chioma Dan Nwafor,
Adejoke Akano,
Kamji Jan,
Blessing Itohan Ebhodaghe,
Kelly Elimian,
Chinwe Lucia Ochu,
Tochi Okwor,
Oladipupo Ipadeola,
Winifred Ukponu,
Ifeanyi Okudo,
Peter Clement,
Elsie Ilori,
Chikwe Ihekweazu
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
the pan african medical journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.287
H-Index - 30
ISSN - 1937-8688
DOI - 10.11604/pamj.2020.37.179.26425
Subject(s) - lassa fever , medicine , pillar , outbreak , infectious disease (medical specialty) , emerging infectious disease , disease , lassa virus , environmental health , medical emergency , virology , pathology , virus , structural engineering , engineering
Emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases are becoming more frequent and developing countries are especially at increased risk. A recurring infectious disease outbreak in Nigeria has been that of Lassa fever (LF), a disease that is endemic in Nigeria and other West African countries. Nigeria, between 1 st January and 27 th October 2019, reported 743 confirmed cases of LF and 157 deaths in confirmed cases. Lassa fever outbreaks continue to be recurrent after fifty years of its identification. The true burden of the disease in Nigeria is unknown while gaps in knowledge about the infection still persist. Based on the Nigeria national Lassa fever research agenda and the World Health Organisation's roadmap initiative for accelerating research and product development which enables effective and timely emergency response to LF disease epidemics among other infectious diseases; a research pillar was added to the seven existing LF emergency operations centre response pillars in 2019. We describe lessons learnt from the integration of a research pillar into the LF national emergency response.