Conference Abstract | Volume 8, Abstract ELIC2025350 (Poster 086) | Published: 04 Aug 2025
Fatima Ohunene Sanni1, Winifred Sandra Ukponu1, Favour Eshofuneh Imiegha1, Abdulazeez Muhammed Kuna1, Piring’ar Mercy Niyang1, Ibrahim Bola Gobir1,&, Itunu Dave-Agboola1
1Georgetown Global Health Nigeria, Abuja, Nigeria
&Corresponding author: Ibrahim Bola Gobir, Georgetown Global Health Nigeria, Abuja, Nigeria. Email: ibg7@georgetown.edu
Received: 01 May 2025, Accepted: 09 July 2025, Published: 04 Aug 2025
Domain: Infectious Disease Epidemiology
Keywords: Lassa fever, Clinical fellowship, Capacity building, Patient outcomes, Nigeria, Outbreak response, Infectious disease training, CFR
©Fatima Ohunene Sanni et al. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health (ISSN: 2664-2824). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Cite this article: Fatima Ohunene Sanni et al., From classroom to clinic: Translating training into improved Lassa fever patient outcomes. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health. 2025;8(ConfProc5):00230. https://doi.org/10.37432/JIEPH-CONFPRO5-00230
To address the urgent need for improved clinical capacity and reduce Lassa fever case fatality, the Lassa Fever Clinical Management Fellowship (LFCMF) was introduced in 2023 to provide clinicians with specialized knowledge and skills in various aspects of Lassa fever clinical management. This study examines the impact of the fellowship on Lassa fever outcomes by comparing key clinical indicators between centers with trained fellows and untrained fellows.
A retrospective comparative analysis was conducted using data collected from 29 Lassa fever treatment centers across Nigeria from June 2021 to May 2024. The data included new admissions, current admissions, total discharge and deaths in treatment centers were extracted, while the treatment centers were categorized into two: those with an LFCMF-trained fellow (trained centers) and those without (non-trained centers). Key outcome indicators were calculated: discharge rate and mortality rate. The Chi-Square test was used to assess the differences in outcomes between trained and non-trained centers. Statistical tests, visualizations and trend analysis were performed.
Trained centers demonstrated a lower overall discharge rate (44%) compared to non-trained centers (50%), a statistically significant difference (p < 0.024). While the overall mortality rate was slightly lower in trained centers (11%) than non-trained centers (14%), the difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.134).
The fellowship has contributed to improved patient outcomes, particularly in reducing case fatality. The study findings reflect lower referral rates in trained centers due to the presence of capable clinicians in those centers. While the mortality reduction was not statistically significant, the trends suggest a positive impact of the training on clinical practice. These findings highlight the value of structured, context-specific capacity-building initiatives in enhancing outbreak response and improving patient outcomes in Lassa fever.
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