The students of Kwara State University Malete, Wednesday, took a sensitisation campaign on the spread of Lassa fever to Idofian, a rural community in Ifelodun local government area of Kwara State.
The students are the Higher National Diploma (HND) conversation programme in the department of Mass Communication.
Modupola Adenike Ige, a Health Practitioner, had while sensitising the residents of the community, explained that Lassa fever was a haemorrhage caused by a virus from rodents with eight breast. She warned people against allowing rats to have access to their food stuff.
According to her, residents of rural areas must be worried of drying their food on the floor, roadside or open space to avoid contamination.
“There is a need to improve on your personal hygiene as a way of preventing the spread of the disease. Rats are the cause of the fever and it takes 6 to 21 days to show symptoms if one is infected”, she said.
The health practitioner, who identified the symptoms to be fever, cough, vomiting, headache and body pain among others, advised people to contact health centre if observed any of the signs.
In his address, Usman Aliyu, the leader of the campaign group stated that the campaign was organised to raise awareness on the scourge of the disease particularly in rural areas, which are the most vulnerable.
“This group is particularly worried about the recent confirmation of two cases of the disease in Kwara State where husband and wife were infected. This couple were said to be natives of Benin Republic, which shares a border with the state, but we’re farming in a farm settlement in Taberu village in the Baruten local government area of the state”, he said.
Aliyu, who asserted that the disease was traced to a village called Lassa in Borno in 1969, said that about 5,000 resulted into death yearly.
Students also staged a drama to further enlighten the residents of the community on the ill of the fever.
SIKIRAT SHEHU, Ilorin
