Lagos State Government on Monday identified measles as the 'strange' disease that has killed over 20 children in Eti-Osa area of the state.
The state commissioner for health, Dr. Jide Idris, who disclosed this to journalists added that water samples also confirmed traces of bacterial infection as a result of poor environmental issues in the slum community.
He explained that from analysis conducted on blood samples (and throat swabs) and water samples conducted at the virology reference laboratory and the Lagos State Drug Quality Control Laboratory (DQCL), LASUTH, Ikeja, what the state was dealing with is actually measles.
"Different tests have confirmed that. There is a marker in the blood that shows active activities of the (measles) virus in that community. The cause of this has to do with environmental sanitation in that place.
"It is a slum area, so a lot of sanitation and personal hygiene are totally off course. With a lot of open defecation, the water system was contaminated and in the water samples we detected a lot of bacteria."
The commissioner added that measles vaccination has since commenced with health awareness in the affected communities, saying the government had also done active case searches.
He said no new death has thus far been recorded at least in the last one week of the state's intervention, adding that the Otodo Gbame people were apparently missed while the vaccination exercise lasted.
Idris added that:"The truth is that very few people know that, that community exist and it was missed during the vaccination exercise. If you have a community where children have not been vaccinated, measles have a way of dealing with the immunity of such children and leaving them with complications. It can also be complicated by severe malnutrition. It can affect their brains and many parts of the body.
"We heard that Otodo Gbame is a reclaimed area and sand filled for something else entirely. A lot of people come into Lagos and just take over different places and since they don't have adequate facilities for all the sanitation required, this disease outbreak is what will happen."
Source: All Africa News
