This hemorrhagic fever, endemic to West Africa, kills between 5,000 and 6,000 people a year. The rodent that carries Lassa fever transmits it to humans through its excrement.
A virus rarely found in France. A patient suffering from Lassa fever is hospitalized at the Begin military hospital in Saint-Mandé in Val-de-Marne, as BFMTV learned this Thursday, May 2. This virus is rare in the Northern Hemisphere as it is endemic in West Africa, especially Nigeria, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
“The virus is circulating almost constantly, especially in Nigeria, the hardest-hit country but also the most populous in Africa. Overall, it is estimated that between 160 and 180 million people are potentially at risk,” explains Sylvain Baize, head of the biology department. Department of New Viral Infections at the Pasteur Institute.
Isolated cases have also been reported in Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted. In Benin, two epidemics were recorded in 2014 and 2016.
5,000 to 6,000 deaths per year
According to the Pasteur Institute, this hemorrhagic fever infects 100,000 to 300,000 people annually and causes 5,000 to 6,000 deaths per year. The virus takes its name from the city where it was first isolated in Nigeria in 1969 and where a nurse died.
Lassa fever is a hemorrhagic fever most commonly found in northern countries, with more than twenty cases reported since 1969 as of September 2019.
The source of this disease? A small rodent called the Natal rat, native to West Africa. It transmits Lassa fever to humans through feces.
“The virus can also be transmitted from person to person through direct contact with the blood, urine, excrement or other organic secretions of an infected person,” says the World Health Organization.
Person-to-person transmission of the virus has been reported in hospitals, especially where hygienic conditions are not optimal.
80% of cases are asymptomatic
This disease is difficult to detect because in 80% of cases there are no symptoms. In the remaining 20% of cases, these symptoms, which arise gradually, are usually nonspecific: fever, vomiting, nausea, abdominal pain, headaches, etc.
In 15% of cases, symptoms may worsen. Then swelling, pleurisy, bleeding from the mouth, nose or even vagina appear.
In 1% of cases, Lassalle fever is fatal. And this is within 14 days of the onset of symptoms. Please note that pregnant women are at particular risk.
The virus “frequently leads to the death of the mother and systematically to the death of the fetus,” warns the Pasteur Institute.
Those who survive this fever sometimes experience side effects: 25% become deaf. Only half of them regain their hearing after one to three months.
There is currently only one treatment for Lassa fever: ribavirin, an antiviral drug. However, it is only effective if it is administered very quickly after infection. However, because the symptoms are not very specific, once a diagnosis is made it is often too late to make a diagnosis.
No vaccine has yet seen the light of day. However, clinical trials are ongoing. On April 28, the Pasteur Institute reported positive results from the first phase of clinical trials of its vaccine candidate conducted internationally.
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