COVID-19 and Lassa fever in Nigeria: A deadly alliance?

Salihu Sabiu Musa; Shi Zhao; Zainab Umar Abdullahi; Abdulrazaq Garba Habib; Daihai He

doi:10.1016/j.ijid.2022.01.058

COVID-19 and Lassa fever in Nigeria: A deadly alliance?

Salihu Sabiu Musa, Shi Zhao, Zainab Umar Abdullahi, Abdulrazaq Garba Habib, Daihai He

Research output: Journal article publication › Journal article › Academic research › peer-review

11 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

As the COVID-19 pandemic poses serious threats to global public health, Nigeria faces a potential public health crisis owing to COVID-19 and other infectious diseases, such as Lassa fever (LF) and malaria. In this study, we discuss the possible determinants behind the decreased number of LF cases in Nigeria, which was likely due to the synergistic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the epidemic curve of LF seems to have deviated from the general seasonal scale seen in past years, which could be due to underreporting of cases. In addition, partial compliance with nonpharmaceutical interventions, limited resources, or human behavior could be contributing factors. Thus, we suggest that better differentiation in terms of human and resource allocation between COVID-19 and LF could help curtail the transmission effectively.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	45-47
Number of pages	3
Journal	International Journal of Infectious Diseases
Volume	117
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijid.2022.01.058
Publication status	Published - Apr 2022

Keywords

COVID-19
Lassa fever
Pandemic

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Microbiology (medical)
Infectious Diseases

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

More information

10.1016/j.ijid.2022.01.058

http://hdl.handle.net/10397/96436

Cite this

@article{bb6e2851316a4204a3dd0e41849e1bdb,

title = "COVID-19 and Lassa fever in Nigeria: A deadly alliance?",

abstract = "As the COVID-19 pandemic poses serious threats to global public health, Nigeria faces a potential public health crisis owing to COVID-19 and other infectious diseases, such as Lassa fever (LF) and malaria. In this study, we discuss the possible determinants behind the decreased number of LF cases in Nigeria, which was likely due to the synergistic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the epidemic curve of LF seems to have deviated from the general seasonal scale seen in past years, which could be due to underreporting of cases. In addition, partial compliance with nonpharmaceutical interventions, limited resources, or human behavior could be contributing factors. Thus, we suggest that better differentiation in terms of human and resource allocation between COVID-19 and LF could help curtail the transmission effectively.",

keywords = "COVID-19, Lassa fever, Pandemic",

author = "Musa, {Salihu Sabiu} and Shi Zhao and Abdullahi, {Zainab Umar} and Habib, {Abdulrazaq Garba} and Daihai He",

note = "Funding Information: The authors declare that they have no competing interests. None. None. All authors contributed equally. Ethics approval was not needed because all the data used in this work can be obtained in the public domain. Not applicable. All the data used can be obtained in the public domain. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 The Author(s)",

year = "2022",

month = apr,

doi = "10.1016/j.ijid.2022.01.058",

language = "English",

volume = "117",

pages = "45--47",

journal = "International Journal of Infectious Diseases",