Genome-wide association study identifies human genetic variants associated with fatal outcome from Lassa fever.

Infection with Lassa virus (LASV) can cause Lassa fever, a haemorrhagic illness with an estimated fatality rate of 29.7%, but causes no or mild symptoms in many individuals. Here, to investigate whether human genetic variation underlies the heterogeneity of LASV infection, we carried out genome-wide association studies (GWAS) as well as seroprevalence surveys, human leukocyte antigen typing and high-throughput variant functional characterization assays.

Focussed Assessment with Sonography in acute Lassa Fever (FASLa): Development of a point-of-care protocol and description of common ultrasound findings.

Background: Managing Lassa fever (LF) patients is challenging because of the complexity of this life-threatening infectious disease, the necessary isolation measures, and the limited resources in countries where it is endemic. Point-of-care ultrasonography (POCUS) is a promising low-cost imaging technique that may help in guiding the management of patients.

Methods: We conducted this observational study at the Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital in Nigeria.

Psychiatric manifestations and associated risk factors among hospitalised patients with COVID-19 in Edo State, Nigeria: a cross-sectional study.

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of depression and anxiety and identify associated risk factors in hospitalised persons with confirmed COVID-19 in Edo, Nigeria.

Design: A multicentre cross-sectional survey.

Setting: Patients with COVID-19 hospitalised at the three government-designated treatment and isolation centres in Edo State, Nigeria.

Factors associated with progression to death in patients with Lassa fever in Nigeria: an observational study.

Background: Lassa fever is endemic in several west African countries. Case-fatality rates ranging from 21% to 69% have been reported. The pathophysiology of the disease in humans and determinants of mortality remain poorly understood.

Acute kidney injury and mortality in pediatric Lassa fever versus question of access to dialysis.

Objectives: To assess the prevalence of acute kidney injury (AKI), and its impact on outcome in hospitalized pediatric patients with Lassa fever (LF).

Methods: We reviewed the presenting clinical and laboratory features and outcomes of 40 successive hospitalized children with PCR-confirmed LF. The diagnosis and staging of AKI was based on KDIGO criteria.

Field evaluation of a Pan-Lassa rapid diagnostic test during the 2018 Nigerian Lassa fever outbreak.

Lassa virus (LASV) is the causative agent of Lassa fever (LF), an often-fatal hemorrhagic disease. LF is endemic in Nigeria, Sierra Leone and other West African countries. Diagnosis of LASV infection is challenged by the genetic diversity of the virus, which is greatest in Nigeria.

Lassa Fever: Epidemiology, Clinical Features, Diagnosis, Management and Prevention.

Lassa fever outbreaks West Africa have caused up to 10,000 deaths annually. Primary infection occurs from contact with Lassa virus-infected rodents and exposure to their excreta, blood, or meat. Incubation takes 2 to 21 days.

Corrigendum: Caseload and Case Fatality of Lassa Fever in Nigeria, 2001-2018: A Specialist Center's Experience and Its Implications.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2019.

Phylogeography of Lassa Virus in Nigeria.

Lassa virus is genetically diverse with several lineages circulating in West Africa. This study aimed at describing the sequence variability of Lassa virus across Nigeria and inferring its spatiotemporal evolution. We sequenced and isolated 77 Lassa virus strains from 16 Nigerian states.

Caseload and Case Fatality of Lassa Fever in Nigeria, 2001-2018: A Specialist Center's Experience and Its Implications.

The general lack of comprehensive data on the trends of Lassa fever (LF) outbreaks contrasts with its widespread occurrence in West Africa and is an important constraint in the design of effective control measures. We reviewed the contribution of LF to admissions and mortality among hospitalized patients from 2001 to 2018 in the bid to address this gap. Observational study of LF caseload and mortality from 2001 to 18 in terms of the contribution of confirmed LF to admissions and deaths, and case fatality (CF) among patients with confirmed LF at a specialist center in Nigeria.

Development and evaluation of antibody-capture immunoassays for detection of Lassa virus nucleoprotein-specific immunoglobulin M and G.

Background: The classical method for detection of Lassa virus-specific antibodies is the immunofluorescence assay (IFA) using virus-infected cells as antigen. However, IFA requires laboratories of biosafety level 4 for assay production and an experienced investigator to interpret the fluorescence signals. Therefore, we aimed to establish and evaluate enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) using recombinant Lassa virus nucleoprotein (NP) as antigen.

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

Background: 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.

An Outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease in the Lassa Fever Zone.

Background: Kenema Government Hospital (KGH) has developed an advanced clinical and laboratory research capacity to manage the threat of Lassa fever, a viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF). The 2013-2016 Ebola virus (EBOV) disease (EVD) outbreak is the first to have occurred in an area close to a facility with established clinical and laboratory capacity for study of VHFs.

Methods: Because of its proximity to the epicenter of the EVD outbreak, which began in Guinea in March 2014, the KGH Lassa fever Team mobilized to establish EBOV surveillance and diagnostic capabilities.

Most neutralizing human monoclonal antibodies target novel epitopes requiring both Lassa virus glycoprotein subunits.

Lassa fever is a severe multisystem disease that often has haemorrhagic manifestations. The epitopes of the Lassa virus (LASV) surface glycoproteins recognized by naturally infected human hosts have not been identified or characterized. Here we have cloned 113 human monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) specific for LASV glycoproteins from memory B cells of Lassa fever survivors from West Africa.

Clinical Sequencing Uncovers Origins and Evolution of Lassa Virus.

The 2013-2015 West African epidemic of Ebola virus disease (EVD) reminds us of how little is known about biosafety level 4 viruses. Like Ebola virus, Lassa virus (LASV) can cause hemorrhagic fever with high case fatality rates. We generated a genomic catalog of almost 200 LASV sequences from clinical and rodent reservoir samples.

Lessons learnt from the management of a case of Lassa fever and follow-up of nosocomial primary contacts in Nigeria during Ebola virus disease outbreak in West Africa.

Objective: To describe our experiences in the management of a case of Lassa fever (LF) and follow-up of nosocomial primary contacts during the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

Methods: Clinical management of the index case and infection control/surveillance activities for primary contacts are described. Laboratory confirmation was by Lassa virus-specific reverse-transcriptase PCR.

Lassa fever - full recovery without ribavarin treatment: a case report.

Background: Lassa fever is a rodent-borne zoonosis that clinically manifests as an acute hemorrhagic fever. It is treated using ribavarin. Surviving Lassa fever without receiving the antiviral drug ribavarin is rare.

Discovery of novel rhabdoviruses in the blood of healthy individuals from West Africa.

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) has the potential to transform the discovery of viruses causing unexplained acute febrile illness (UAFI) because it does not depend on culturing the pathogen or a priori knowledge of the pathogen's nucleic acid sequence. More generally, it has the potential to elucidate the complete human virome, including viruses that cause no overt symptoms of disease, but may have unrecognized immunological or developmental consequences. We have used NGS to identify RNA viruses in the blood of 195 patients with UAFI and compared them with those found in 328 apparently healthy (i.

Molecular diagnostics for lassa fever at Irrua specialist teaching hospital, Nigeria: lessons learnt from two years of laboratory operation.

Background: Lassa fever is a viral hemorrhagic fever endemic in West Africa. However, none of the hospitals in the endemic areas of Nigeria has the capacity to perform Lassa virus diagnostics. Case identification and management solely relies on non-specific clinical criteria.

Hospital-based surveillance for Lassa fever in Edo State, Nigeria, 2005-2008.

Objectives: To estimate the burden of Lassa fever in northern and central Edo, a state in south Nigeria where Lassa fever has been reported.

Methods: Blood samples were obtained from 60 patients hospitalised at the Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital (ISTH), Irrua, with a clinical suspicion of Lassa fever and from 451 febrile outpatients seen at the ISTH and hospitals in Ekpoma, Iruekpen, Uromi, Auchi and Igarra. All samples were tested retrospectively by Lassa virus-specific RT-PCR.

Current molecular epidemiology of Lassa virus in Nigeria.

Recent Lassa virus strains from Nigeria were completely or partially sequenced. Phylogenetic analysis revealed the predominance of lineage II and III strains, the existence of a previously undescribed (sub)lineage in Nigeria, and the directional spread of virus in the southern part of the country. The Bayesian analysis also provided estimates for divergence times within the Lassa virus clade.