Thousands of Nigerians admitted into
United Kingdom universities appear sure to face tough health screening
as their campuses have been placed on the alert for the danger posed
by the Ebola Virus Disease.
According to The Independent on Sunday,
the alert by Universities UK, the umbrella body that represents
vice-chancellors, was issued because the universities are expecting new students to arrive from West Africa.
While the three countries which have seen
the largest number of Ebola cases – Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone –
have hardly any students enrolling at UK universities, Nigeria – which
has also had confirmed cases – is the fourth largest supplier of
international students to UK universities.
In 2012-13, the latest year for which figures are available, a total of 9,630 were enrolled.
A spokesman for the body said, “The issue
is very much on universities’ radars. We circulated to universities the
publicly available guidance on the topic.”
The guidance makes it clear that any
student suspected of having Ebola should immediately be isolated in a
side room away from any member of staff or student contact.
“The side room should have dedicated
en-suite facilities or at least a dedicated commode,” it says. “The
level of staff protection is dependent on the patient’s condition,” the
London-based newspaper newspaper said.
It added that “those having any dealings
with the patient must take careful hand hygiene precautions, wearing
double gloves and a disposable visor.
The guidance told university workers
that, “evidence from outbreaks strongly indicates that the main routes
of transmission of infection are direct contact (through broken skin or
mucous membrane) and indirect contact with environments contaminated
with splashes or droplets of blood or body fluids.”
It said that experts “agree that there is
no circumstantial or epidemiological evidence of an aerosol
transmission risk from patients.”
29 Ebola patients flee as gunmen invade isolation ward
Fears has however heightened that the EVD
might spread further in the region after 29 patients fled when armed
men attacked their isolation ward in Monrovia, Liberia on Friday.
The incident happened as a Nigerian was tested for the virus in Alicante, home to 82,000 Britons in Spain.
A witness was quoted by The Mailonline as saying that the Liberian gunmen smashed down the doors of the ward and looted medical supplies.
“They broke down the doors and looted the place. The patients all fled,” said Rebecca Wesseh, who witnessed the attack.
The Head of Health Workers Association of Liberian, George Williams, confirmed the incident.
Armed men attacked an Ebola isolation
ward in Liberia’s capital city of Monrovia, as seen from the roof of an
abandoned hotel on Friday. A total of 29 patients fled the ward in
terror.
Nigerian tested in Spain, kept in isolation
The Mailonline also reported
that the Nigerian was tested after going to San Juan Hospital in
Alicante with the tell-tale signs of the EVD.
Officials of the hospital said the
unnamed Nigerian, who is in his 30s, was being kept in isolation until
the results of the tests were known.
The officials were said to have activated
the Ebola protocol after he complained of the flu-like symptoms
associated with the onset of the virus.
Paramedics wearing protective suits and masks transferred him from Alicante General Hospital to nearby San Juan.
His condition on Sunday was described as “stable.”
FG to meet hospital owners , orders arrest of fake hand sanitiser sellers
Meanwhile, the Minister of Health, Prof.
Onyebuchi Chukwu, has said he will meet with leaders of the Association
of General Practitioners of Nigeria and the Guild of Medical Directors
of Nigeria over reports that some private hospitals were refusing to
treat patients suffering from malaria and fever.
There were media reports (The PUNCH not included) last week that such private hospitals were doing so because of fear of contracting the Ebola Virus Disease.
Chukwu, in an interview with one of our
correspondents in Abuja, however attributed the action by such
hospitals to inadequate information on the nature and mode of spread of
the EVD , which claimed its first victim in Nigeria, Patrick Sawyer, in a
private hospital in Lagos.
The hospital lost its matron and a nurse who were among health workers that handled Sawyer’s case to the disease.
Another nurse, who was also involved in
the treatment of the Liberian-American is currently being quarantined at
the Infectious Diseases Hospital in Yaba, Lagos after she tested
positive to the virus.
The doctor that attended to Sawyer on his
arrival at the private health facility, also contracted the virus but
she survived after 22 days in the IDH.
Chukwu said, “I am meeting with the
leadership of the Association of General Practitioners of Nigeria and
the Guild of Medical Directors of Nigeria, this week. The two bodies
control private practitioners.
“Part of the reason we want to meet with
them is due to reports that the private hospitals were turning back
patients suffering from fever and malaria for fear of contracting EVD
through them.”
He said with proper education, the country would be able to contain the spread of the disease.
The minister, therefore, urged the media
to confirm from him, any rumoured case of Ebola anywhere in the
country before publishing.
Chukwu said, “The media should help the
ministry to reduce panic in the society over the issue of Ebola, what we
need is continuous education of our people. For instance, we have
clinical case definition, that is crosschecking cases through laboratory
testing.
“That was why, when we went to Abia
State, we used the laboratory test to convince everybody that the woman
suspected to have Ebola did not have it.
“But because a section of the media did
not confirm the true status of the woman from me or from the National
Centre for Disease Control, they escalated panic in Abia by
publishing that an Ebola case had been reported in the state. That is
the only reason why the woman’s blood was taken for testing.”
On fake hand sanitisers and gloves
allegedly being sold to the public, he said the ministry had
directed the National Agency for Foods and Drugs Administration and
Control to begin investigation and bring all the culprits to book.
The minister said, “NAFDAC will continue
to monitor but we strongly believe that the fake versions of hand
sanitisers are being produced and sold by some people .
“NAFDAC will continue to do its job and we hope that very soon, those perpetrating the crime will be arrested and prosecuted.”
Chukwu also denied mentioning the name of
the female doctor who treated the late Liberian – American. The doctor
was discharged from the isolation ward on Saturday.
Chukwu, in a statement by his Special
Assistant on Media and Communication, Mr. Dan Nwomeh, on Sunday, said he
did not refer to the doctor as Dr. Adedevor , as quoted in the media.
The statement read in part, “It has been
brought to the attention of the minister that the first Nigerian
to be diagnosed of EVD, is being reported in some section of the media
to be one Dr. Adadevor.
“The minister wishes to clarify that the
name of the patient is not Dr. Adadevo. This should be noted. The
minister’s statement on Saturday while indicating that it was a female
doctor did not indicate the name of the patient.”
Sahara Reporters later quoted
Chukwu as having said in a statement that five EVD patients being
treated at the IDH had almost fully recovered.
He was said to have also confirmed that
Nano Silver, an experimental drug, had failed to meet the required
standards and therefore would not be used on Ebola patients.
PUNCH.
Tiwa Savage celebrates her mother today on her birthday and to mark it,she shared her touching story on how she was bullied for being 
Photographer John Moore visited Liberia, where Ebola has taken a
lot of lives, and his pictures put the visuals to Joanne Lui's words.
These are sad images of loss, grief, pain, despair and horror as an
innocent people grapple with a disease that is killing off their loved
ones.
