No fewer than 25
children have been confirmed dead following an outbreak of the Febrile Rash
Illnesses (FRI) in Otodo-Gbame community in Ikate, Lekki.
At a news conference
in Lagos today February 19th, the Lagos state commissioner for Health, Jide
Idris, said though the source of the disease is still unknown, 34 cases of sick
children with FRI is currently being treated while the graves of 20 children
have been identified by their parents.
“The graves of 20
children who died from the FRI since the day of onset of signs and symptoms in
the first case on January 6 were identified by their parents. Also, 34 cases
have been line listed so far with 17 males and 17 females; 17 dead patients
have been identified with nine males and eight females, all are within the age
range of eight and 72 months. The source of the infection is still under
investigation and until we know the required source, we cannot say for sure,
what is causing it.”he said
He disclosed that the
first case of the disease was reported in January 2016 this year in a community
predominantly occupied by the Eguns. He said after contracting the ailment, the
affected children developed rashes, which was similar to the symptoms of
measles, and they died two to three days after. Idris said that a team of
epidemiologists from the state ministry of health are yet to come up with the
report on the source of the strange infection, but added that the signs and
symptoms of the illness suggested Febrile Rash. “Blood samples and throat swabs
from the patients and water samples from the community have been taken to the
Virology Reference Laboratory"he said
He appealed to members
of the public to maintain a clean environment as the government battles to stop
the spread of the disease.
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