Prevalence of Lassa Virus Disease (LVD) in Nigerian children with fever or fever and convulsions in an endemic area

• Published in: PLoS neglected tropical diseases 2017-07, Vol.11 (7), p.e0005711-e0005711
• Main Authors: Akhuemokhan, Odigie C, Ewah-Odiase, Rosemary O, Akpede, Nosa, Ehimuan, Jacqueline, Adomeh, Donatus I, Odia, Ikpomwonsa, Olomu, Sylvia C, Pahlmann, Meike, Becker-Ziaja, Beate, Happi, Christian T, Asogun, Danny A, Okogbenin, Sylvanus A, Okokhere, Peter O, Dawodu, Osagie S, Omoike, Irekpono U, Sabeti, Pardis C, Günther, Stephan, Akpede, George O
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Biology and Life Sciences; Bleeding; Child; Child, Preschool; Children; Confidence intervals; Convulsions; Developing countries; Diagnosis; Differentiation; DNA; Emergencies; Emergency medical care; Emergency medical services; Endemic Diseases; Female; Fever; Health aspects; Hospitals, Teaching; Humans; Infant; Laboratories; Lassa fever; Lassa Fever - complications; Lassa Fever - epidemiology; Lassa Fever - pathology; Lassa virus - genetics; Lassa virus - isolation & purification; LDCs; Malaria; Male; Medicine; Medicine and Health Sciences; Meningitis; Nigeria - epidemiology; Nucleotide sequence; PCR; Polymerase chain reaction; Prevalence; Prospective Studies; Public health; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; Seizures - epidemiology; Seizures - etiology; Teaching hospitals; Tropical diseases; Tropical environments; Viral infections; Virology; Virus diseases; Viruses; Vomiting
• ISSN: 1935-2735; 1935-2727; 1935-2735
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0005711

Convulsions with fever in children are a common neurologic emergency in the tropics, and determining the contribution of endemic viral infections can be challenging. In particular, there is a dearth of data on the prevalence and clinical differentiation of Lassa virus disease (LVD) in febrile children in endemic areas of Nigeria, which has multiple lineages of the virus. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and presentation of LVD in febrile children with and without convulsions. This was a prospective study of consecutive febrile children aged ≥1 month- 15 years admitted to the Children's Emergency Room of Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital over a period of 1 year. Febrile children with convulsions (Cases) were compared with those without convulsions (Controls). LVD was defined by the presence of a positive Lassa virus RT-PCR test. Rates were compared between groups using χ2 or Fisher's exact tests and p