There was panic among staff of the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Ile-Ife as a resident doctor, suspected to have contracted Lassa fever, reportedly died on Monday.
Doctors, nurses, medical personnel and patients at the Emergency Unit of the hospital where the doctor died were said to have hurriedly vacated the unit, apparently for fear of being victims of the highly contagious viral disease.
It was learnt that the resident doctor of the teaching hospital died after vomiting blood within the hospital premises.
A medical doctor in the hospital who preferred anonymity confirmed that the doctor had visited Ekiti State before arriving Ile-Ife on Monday.
But the authorities of OAUTHC have debunked insinuations that the doctor died as a result of Lassa fever.
However, the chairman of the hospital’s committee on Lassa fever, Adedeji Onayade, confirmed the death of the resident doctor but said the fact that the doctor bled to death could not be taken that he died of the deadly virus.
Mr. Onayade, a professor, said blood sample of the late doctor had been obtained and sent to the federal government for confirmation.
He said until the result of the blood sample was confirmed positive, it could not be said that the hospital recorded a case of Lassa fever.
Meanwhile, there is fear in the Obafemi Awolowo University community once the news of the doctor’s death filtered in.
