Lassa Fever is a viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF) with a significant mortality rate.
Significant findings in the history:
(1) living in or travel to West Africa
(2) exposure to mice or rats or their droppings
(3) exposure to a patient with Lassa fever or to the person’s body fluids
Case definition – all of the following:
(1) unexplained high fever for >= 1 week (>= 38°C, >= 100.4°F)
(2) one or more of the following:
(2a) no response to standard therapy for malaria, typhoid fever or other common causes of a febrile illness
(2b) readmitted within 3 weeks of inpatient care for a febrile illness
(3) one or more of the following:
(3a) edema
(3b) bleeding
(3c) sore throat, retrosternal pain and vomiting
(3d) spontaneous abortion following fever (if pregnant female)
(3e) hearing loss following onset of fever
Other symptoms may include:
(1) back pain
(2) cough
(3) headache
(4) red eyes
(5) exhaustion and loss of strength
(6) shock
