Lassa Fever at a Tertiary Hospital in North-Central Nigeria (2018–2023): Retrospective Cohort of RTPCR Confirmed Cases, Case Fatality and Factors Associated with Death

Abstract

Aim: This study was aimed to determine the incident cases, pattern of mortality, factors associated with the mortality and case fatality rate among Lassa fever infected patients attending a Tertiary Hospital in North Central, Nigeria. Method: A retrospective Analysis was carried out at Benue State University Teaching Hospital Makurdi, North Central, Nigeria from January 2018 to March 2023.  Data was collected based on Secondary data abstraction on Lassa fever patients attending clinic at Benue State University Teaching Makurdi, North Centre Nigeria. A total of 179 patients tested for Lassa fever were retrieved and information on sociodemographic characteristics, clinical findings and laboratory investigation results were collected and entered in the case report form (CFR) for further analysis. Out of 179 suspected cases,62 patients were confirmed, 55 patients received their complete treatment at BSUTH while 7patients had incomplete treatment. The data of 55 patients were analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) Version 23. Results: The results showed that the mean age of patients were 34.65±12.31 ranging from 15-61 years while 52.7% were aged ≥35 years. Many patients were students (23.9%), while civil servants and patients resided in urban areas were (21.7%) (74.5%) respectively. Multivariant logistic regression analyses were used to confirm the factors associated with high mortality among patients which include diarrhoea, patients with jaundice, decreased urine volume and mucosal bleeding from craniofacial sites (19.0%) (60.0%) (28.6%) (21.1%) respectively which were statistically significant (p<0.003). Conclusion: The study revealed a relationship between demographic profile and clinical manifestation of confirmed cases of LF and death.