I’m glad to see #Lassa is getting more attention. However, every single news article is riddled with major inaccuracies.https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2018/3/9/17092624/lassa-fever-virus-outbreak-symptoms-nigeria …
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2. The ‘outbreak’ is not out of control - again, Lassa is endemic (like e.g. malaria). Yes, we don’t have good control measures, however, ‘out of control’ would imply unrestricted (human-to-human) transmission. That’s not what is going on here
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3. People don’t die from ‘bleeding out of every orifice’ - same for Ebola. Yes, the disease is severe, but most people die without overt bleeding.
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4. A typical story will say that in most cases the disease is mild with an overall fatality rate of about 1%. We have absolutely no idea if this is true - and most likely it is not.
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5. Speaking of fatality rates - most stories will the go on to say that in severe (and/or hospitalized) cases the case fatality rate is 20%. This is also not correct - for confirmed hospitalized cases the CFR is typically 50% or more.
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6. Most articles mention that reporting bias could be responsible for *some* of the observed uptick in cases - but not all. This is not true. Reporting bias is *fully* sufficient to explain the uptick in cases.
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7. Lassa is an exceptionally problematic disease with huge detriment to public health in W. Africa. It very much deserves attention, we need vaccines, drugs, diagnostics.
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8. However, when discussing Lassa, we need accuracy in reporting and not hype - Lassa will still be here once this ‘outbreak’ leaves the mainstream media and will return again next year with similar detriment to endemic countries.
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