Conference Abstract | Volume 8, Abstract ELIC2025280 (Oral 046) | Published: 13 Aug 2025
Lilian Omoyemen Akerele1, Sylvester Oziegbe Alikah1, Andrew Oseghale Eigbedion1, Abimbola Ajoke Ekunsumi1, Kikelomo Victoria Doherty1, William Omoh Akerele1,2, Jeremiah Samuel Alli1, Christaina Ngozi Ekumar1, Omoyenmen Sonia Ifada1, Chi-emeka Jacinta Ogbonnaya1, Sylvanus Akhalufo Okogbenin3,4, Joseph Okoeguale2,4, Mojeed Olaitan Rafiu4,5, George Obozokhale Akpede1,3,&
1Department of Paediatrics, Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Irrua, Nigeria, 2Department of Surgery, Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Irrua, Nigeria, 3Department of Paediatrics, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo State, Nigeria, 4Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Irrua, Nigeria, 5Department of Internal Medicine, Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Irrua, Nigeria
&Corresponding author: George Obozokhale Akpede, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo State, Nigeria. Email: georgeakpede@yahoo.co.uk
Received: 15 May 2025, Accepted: 09 Jul 2025, Published: 13 Aug 2025
Domain: Infectious Disease Epidemiology
Keywords: Neonatal Lassa virus disease, Neonatal mortality and morbidity, Outcome, Presentation, Severe manifestations
©George Obozokhale Akpede 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: George Obozokhale Akpede et al., Presentation and outcome of neonatal Lassa virus disease in endemic areas of Nigeria: A report from Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health. 2025;8(ConfProc5):00046. https://doi.org/10.37432/JIEPH-CONFPRO5-00046
Neonatal Lassa Virus disease (NNLVD) is highly fatal and could be difficult to differentiate clinically from other agents of neonatal sepsis. It could also occur as a co-infection. This scenario plus the paucity of published reports compound the difficulties in the care of febrile newborn babies in endemic areas. We report our experience from the management of a cohort of 27 babies to further create awareness and enhance the availability of data to guide preventive strategies, diagnosis and clinical care.
Descriptive observational study of the clinical presentation and outcomes of 27 babies with NNLVD treated at the Neonatal Unit of ISTH from January 2021 to November 2024. The diagnosis of LVD was confirmed using Lassa virus reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (LASV-RT-PCR) test. We classified the babies into in-born versus out-born and survived versus died and compared presenting features between them using chi square or Fisher exact test, with p <0.05 taken as significant.
27 (1.6%) of 1,678 SCBU admissions during the period had LVD. There was history of maternal LVD in 12/27 and maternal death in 3/27 while 6/11 babies had concomitant bacteraemia. Overall, 17/27 (63.0%) babies with LVD versus 253/1,651 (15.3%) with other morbidities died (OR = 9.39 (4.25, 20.75), p<0.001) while 2 (20%) of the 10 survivors had developmental delays. Swelling of the body and/or bull neck, bleeding, bacteraemia and AKI on presentation were the principal risk factors that increased case fatality.
NNLVD readily mimics bacterial sepsis in its presentation, is an important cause of neonatal mortality in endemic areas, and body swelling and bleeding on presentation are pointers to high case fatality. All febrile babies in endemic areas should be tested for LVD to reduce the risk of missed diagnosis.
Menu
