ArticlePLoS neglected tropical diseases2017
Prevalence of Lassa Virus Disease (LVD) in Nigerian children with fever or fever and convulsions in an endemic area.
Article in PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 49 citations in OpenAlex.
- Lassa fever in West Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis of attack rates, case fatality rates and risk factors.BMC public health · 2025Pooled it
- Unveiling the hidden threats: a review of pathogen diversity and public health risks from bats, rodents, and non-human primates in Zambia (1990-2022).Frontiers in public health · 2024Pooled it
- A systematic review and meta-analysis of the aetiological agents of non-malarial febrile illnesses in Africa.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2022Pooled it
- Clinical characterization of Lassa fever: A systematic review of clinical reports and research to inform clinical trial design.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2021Pooled it
- Systematic review and meta-analysis of the epidemiology of Lassa virus in humans, rodents and other mammals in sub-Saharan Africa.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2020Pooled it
- Presence of Lassa Virus RNA in Cerebrospinal Fluid Indicating Neuroinvasive Lassa Fever in Pediatric Patients From Edo State, Nigeria.The Journal of infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Serosurveillance Identifies an Endemic Hotspot of Lassa Fever in Faranah, Upper Guinea.The Journal of infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Evidence of multiple bacterial, viral, and parasitic infectious disease agents inInfection ecology & epidemiology · 2025Article
- The DNA-based Lassa vaccine INO-4500 confers durable protective efficacy in cynomolgus macaques against lethal Lassa fever.Communications medicine · 2024Article
- Presentation and Outcomes of Lassa Fever in Children in Nigeria: A Prospective Cohort Study (LASCOPE).Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society · 2024Article
- Virus Load Kinetics in Lassa Fever Patients Treated With Ribavirin: A Retrospective Cohort Study From Southern Nigeria.Open forum infectious diseases · 2024Article
- Seroprevalence of anti-Lassa Virus IgG antibodies in three districts of Sierra Leone: A cross-sectional, population-based study.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2023Article
- Combating Lassa Fever in West African Sub-Region: Progress, Challenges, and Future Perspectives.Viruses · 2023Review
- Luna Virus and Helminths in WildPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Beyond Lassa Fever: Systemic and structural barriers to disease detection and response in Sierra Leone.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2022Article
- Knowledge of Lassa fever, its prevention and control practices and their predictors among healthcare workers during an outbreak in Northern Nigeria: A multi-centre cross-sectional assessment.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2022Article
- Analysis of sociodemographic and clinical factors associated with Lassa fever disease and mortality in Nigeria.PLOS global public health · 2022Article
- Pathogenicity and virulence mechanisms of Lassa virus and its animal modeling, diagnostic, prophylactic, and therapeutic developments.Virulence · 2021Review
- The niche of One Health approaches in Lassa fever surveillance and control.Annals of clinical microbiology and antimicrobials · 2021Review
- Fatal case of newborn Lassa fever virus infection mimicking late onset neonatal sepsis: a case report from northern Nigeria.Infectious diseases of poverty · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
18 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundConvulsions 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. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL
findingsThis 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 <0.05 taken as significant. 373 (40.9%) of 913 admissions had fever. Of these, 108/373 (29%) presented with convulsions. The overall prevalence of LVD was 13/373 (3.5%; 95% CI = 1.9%, 5.7%) in febrile admissions, 3/108 (2.8%) in Cases and 10/265 (3.8%) in Controls [(Odds Ratio (95% Confidence Interval) (OR (95% CI)) of LVD in Cases versus Controls = 0.73 (0.2, 2.7)]. Only vomiting (OR (95% CI) = 0.09 (0.01, 0.70)) and bleeding (OR (95% CI) = 39.56 (8.52, 183.7)) were significantly associated with an increased prevalence of LVD. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: LVD is an important cause of fever, including undifferentiated fever in children in endemic areas, but it is not significantly associated with convulsions associated with fever. Its prevalence, and lack of clinical differentiation on presentation, underscores the importance of a high index of suspicion in diagnosis. Screening of febrile children with undifferentiated fever in endemic areas for LVD could be an important medical and public health control measure.
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