Lassa Fever

1
Lassa Fever

• by Carly Brown

2
Discovery

• John Frame
• 1969
• collaborated with Yale Arbovirus Research Unit

3
Type/Structure

• Arenaviridae family
• spherical
• lipid membrane
• single-stranded RNA

4
Transportation

• zoonotic
• host-multimammate rat
• genus Mastomys
• person to person

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Transportation(cont.)

• urine droppings
• direct contact
• airborne transmission

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Demographic Info.

• at risk- those who live in areas with Mastomys
  rodents

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Statistics

• 100,000 - 300,000 infections a year
• 5,000 deaths
• accounts for 10-16 admitted to hospitals

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Facts

• 80 - no observable symptoms
• 20 - severe multisystem disease
• 1-3 weeks after contracted

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Symptoms

• fever
• malaise
• throat lesions
• pneumonia
• abdominal pain
• vomiting
• diarrhea

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Symptoms(etc.)

• retrosternal pain
• back pain
• cough
• conjunctivitis
• facial swelling
• mucosal bleeding

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Neurological Problems

• tremors
• hearing loss
• deafness occurs in 1/3 of cases

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Miscellaneous

• 15-20 patients hospitalized die
• 95 fetuses die
• risky-women in 3rd trimester

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Ribavirin

• antiviral drug
• used with success

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Sources