Desmond Mgboh, Kano

Two medical doctors have died at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital(AKTH) in Kano State following suspected cases of Lassa Fever.

A doctor on housemanship in the Obstetrics and Gynaecology department, Usman Kalthum, was reported to have died on Friday of suspected Lassa Fever, while a Consultant Anesthetist, Habiba Musa, passed on on Monday from a similar complication, according to hospital sources.

An advisory statement issued by the Kano branch of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) to its members on Monday indicated that blood samples of the two suspected cases had been taken to confirm the diagnosis.

The advisory hinted that the Kano State Ministry of Health and the authorities of the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital have met and have shown a commitment to addressing the challenge in the state’s health sector.

The advisory accessed by Daily Sun further indicated that “the suspected cases received IV Ribawrin and were transferred to Yargaya Isolated Centre.”

It observed that all primary contacts are to be on quarantine while adding that contact tracing would begin from Tuesday morning, even as it appealed to “all those identified to please comply for early treatment.”

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The advisory assured that “more PPEs would be mobilized for moving of any suspected case that may come up,” while appealing to doctors and health workers in the hospitals and in the state to remain calm and observe precautionary measures in their places of work.

In a related development, a Consultant Urologist from the Urology Division of the hospital’s Surgery Department, Dr Abubakar Abdulkadir, has died in a ghastly motor accident that occurred in Gumel, along the Kano-Nguru Road.

Also dead in the same accident was a Senior Registrar with the Department of Orthopedic, National Orthopaedic Hospital, Dala, Kano, Dr Abdurraheem Saliu.

A colleague of theirs, Dr Abdulkarim of the Department of Surgery, Federal Medical Centre, Nguru, sustained injuries in the accident and is receiving treatment at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital.

A condolences message issued by the Kano State governor, Dr Abudulahi Umar Ganduje, in the wake of the accident extended the condolences of the government to the families of the deceased.

“We received this sad story of the great loss in the medical profession. The loss is not only that of their families, their colleagues and their places of work, but the loss is also for the entire health sector in the country,” Ganduje said.

While praying for the repose of the souls of the departed medical experts, the statement said that it would take a long time for the medical profession to overcome the great and irreparable losses.