ArticlePloS one2019
A medical records and data capture and management system for Lassa fever in Sierra Leone: Approach, implementation, and challenges.
Article in PloS one, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 21 citations in OpenAlex.
- 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
- Lessons in the Wake of a Lassa fever case in the Midwest U.S: epidemiology, management and preparedness gaps.BMC infectious diseases · 2026Review
- Socioeconomic and environmental predictors of lassa fever transmission in Lower Bambara Chiefdom, Kenema District, Eastern Sierra Leone.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Estimation of Lassa fever incidence rates in West Africa: Development of a modeling framework to inform vaccine trial design.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2025Article
- A Lassa virus live attenuated vaccine candidate that is safe and efficacious in guinea pigs.NPJ vaccines · 2024Article
- Antibiotic prescribing practices for acute respiratory illness in children less than 24 months of age in Kenema, Sierra Leone: is it time to move beyond algorithm driven decision making?BMC infectious diseases · 2023Article
- Seroprevalence of anti-Lassa Virus IgG antibodies in three districts of Sierra Leone: A cross-sectional, population-based study.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2023Article
- Article
- Lassa Virus Genetics.Current topics in microbiology and immunology · 2023Article
- Current sampling and sequencing biases of Lassa mammarenavirus limit inference from phylogeography and molecular epidemiology in Lassa fever endemic regions.PLOS global public health · 2023Article
- The West Africa ICEMR Partnerships for Guiding Policy to Improve the Malaria Prevention and Control.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2022Article
- Late diagnosis of Lassa fever outbreak in endemic areas lead to high mortality, Kenema District, Sierra Leone, February - March 2019.The Pan African medical journal · 2022Article
- Health seeking behavior after the 2013-16 Ebola epidemic: Lassa fever as a metric of persistent changes in Kenema District, Sierra Leone.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2021Article
- Space-Time Trends in Lassa Fever in Sierra Leone by ELISA Serostatus, 2012-2019.Microorganisms · 2021Article
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Authors and funding
19 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Situated in southeastern Sierra Leone, Kenema Government Hospital (KGH) maintains one of the world's only Lassa fever isolation wards and was a strategic Ebola virus disease (EVD) treatment facility during the 2014 EVD outbreak. Since 2006, the Viral Hemorrhagic Fever Consortium (VHFC) has carried out research activities at KGH, capturing clinical and laboratory data for suspected cases of Lassa fever. Here we describe the approach, progress, and challenges in designing and maintaining a data capture and management system (DCMS) at KGH to assist infectious disease researchers in building and sustaining DCMS in low-resource environments. Results on screening patterns and case-fatality rates are provided to illustrate the context and scope of the DCMS covered in this study. A medical records system and DCMS was designed and implemented between 2010 and 2016 linking historical and prospective Lassa fever data sources across KGH Lassa fever units and its peripheral health units. Data were captured using a case report form (CRF) system, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) plate readers, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) machines, blood chemistry analyzers, and data auditing procedures. Between 2008 and 2016, blood samples for 4,229 suspected Lassa fever cases were screened at KGH, ranging from 219 samples in 2008 to a peak of 760 samples in 2011. Lassa fever case-fatality rates before and following the Ebola outbreak were 65.5% (148/226) and 89.5% (17/19), respectively, suggesting that fewer, but more seriously ill subjects with Lassa fever presented to KGH following the 2014 EVD outbreak (p = .040). DCMS challenges included weak specificity of the Lassa fever suspected case definition, limited capture of patient survival outcome data, internet costs, lapses in internet connectivity, low bandwidth, equipment and software maintenance, lack of computer teaching laboratories, and workload fluctuations due to variable screening activity. DCMS are the backbone of international research efforts and additional literature is needed on the topic for establishing benchmarks and driving goal-based approaches for its advancement in developing countries.
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