This site is intended for healthcare professionals

Go to /sign-in page

You can view 5 more pages before signing in

Lassa fever

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

Lassa fever is a viral haemorrhagic fever caused by an arenavirus, excreted in the urine of rats in West Africa. Contaminated dust and food, as well as person-to-person spread results in the development of the disease after an incubation period of one to three weeks.

The disease has an insidious onset, starting with a sore throat. Other features include:

  • exudative pharyngitis
  • small vesicles or ulcers on the tonsils or palate
  • lethargy or prostration, which is said to be out of proportion to the fever

The virus can be isolated from the urine, blood or throat washings of an infected person.

Treatment with ribavirin in the first week of disease reduces mortality by half. Serum from convalescent patients, which contain a high level of neutralising antibody, as used in treating Argentine haemorrhagic fever is controversial.

Mortality in epidemics may approach 50% but subclinical infection is common in endemic areas.


Create an account to add page annotations

Annotations allow you to add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation. E.g. a website or number. This information will always show when you visit this page.

The content herein is provided for informational purposes and does not replace the need to apply professional clinical judgement when diagnosing or treating any medical condition. A licensed medical practitioner should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions.

Connect

Copyright 2024 Oxbridge Solutions Limited, a subsidiary of OmniaMed Communications Limited. All rights reserved. Any distribution or duplication of the information contained herein is strictly prohibited. Oxbridge Solutions receives funding from advertising but maintains editorial independence.