Search

Summary Background Lassa fever is a viral haemorrhagic fever endemic in parts of west Africa. New treatments are needed to decrease mortality, but pretrial reference data on the disease characteristics are scarce. We aimed to document baseline characteristics and outcomes for patients hospitalised with Lassa fever in Nigeria. Methods We did a prospective cohort study (LASCOPE) at the Federal Medical Centre in Owo, Nigeria. All patients admitted with confirmed Lassa fever were invited to participate and asked to give informed consent. Patients of all ages, including newborn infants, were eligible for inclusion, as were pregnant women. All participants received standard supportive care and intravenous ribavirin according to Nigeria Centre for Disease Control guidelines and underwent systematic biological monitoring for 30 days. Patients' characteristics, care received, mortality, and associated factors were recorded using standard WHO forms. We used univariable and multivariable logistic regression models to investigate an association between baseline characteristics and mortality at day 30. Findings Between April 5, 2018, and March 15, 2020, 534 patients with confirmed Lassa fever were admitted to hospital, of whom 510 (96%) gave consent and were included in the analysis. The cohort included 258 (51%) male patients, 252 (49%) female patients, 426 (84%) adults, and 84 (16%) children (younger than 18 years). The median time between first symptoms and hospital admission was 8 days (IQR 7–13). At baseline, 176 (38%) of 466 patients had a Lassa fever RT-PCR cycle threshold (Ct) lower than 30. From admission to end of follow-up, 120 (25%) of 484 reached a National Early Warning Score (second version; NEWS2) of 7 or higher, 67 (14%) of 495 reached a Kidney Disease–Improving Global Outcome (KDIGO) stage of 2 or higher, and 41 (8%) of 510 underwent dialysis. All patients received ribavirin for a median of 10 days (IQR 9–13). 62 (12%) patients died (57 [13%] adults and five [6%] children). The median time to death was 3 days (1–6). The baseline factors independently associated with mortality were the following: age 45 years or older (adjusted odds ratio 16·30, 95% CI 5·31–50·30), NEWS2 of 7 or higher (4·79, 1·75–13·10), KDIGO grade 2 or higher (7·52, 2·66–21·20), plasma alanine aminotransferase 3 or more times the upper limit of normal (4·96, 1·69–14·60), and Lassa fever RT-PCR Ct value lower than 30 (4·65, 1·50–14·50). Interpretation Our findings comprehensively document clinical and biological characteristics of patients with Lassa fever and their relationship with mortality, providing prospective estimates that could be useful for designing future therapeutic trials. Such trials comparing new Lassa fever treatments to a standard of care should take no more than 15% as the reference mortality rate and consider adopting a combination of mortality and need for dialysis as the primary endpoint. Funding Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale, University of Oxford, EU, UK Department for International Development, Wellcome Trust, French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Agence Nationale de Recherches sur le SIDA et les hepatites virales, French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development.

The health of Indigenous Australians is dramatically poorer than that of the non-Indigenous population. Amelioration of these differences has proven difficult. In part, this is attributable to a conceptualisation which approaches health disparities from the perspective of individual-level health behaviours, less so the environmental conditions that shape collective health behaviours. This ecological study investigated associations between the built environment and cardiometabolic mortality and morbidity in 123 remote Indigenous communities representing 104 Indigenous locations (ILOC) as defined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The presence of infrastructure and/or community buildings was used to create a cumulative exposure score (CES). Records of cardiometabolic-related deaths and health service interactions for the period 2010&ndash, 2015 were sourced from government department records. A quasi-Poisson regression model was used to assess the associations between built environment &ldquo, healthfulness&rdquo, (CES, dichotomised) and cardiometabolic-related outcomes. Low relative to high CES was associated with greater rates of cardiometabolic-related morbidity for two of three morbidity measures (relative risk (RR) 2.41&ndash, 2.54). Cardiometabolic-related mortality was markedly greater (RR 4.56, 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.74&ndash, 11.93) for low-CES ILOCs. A lesser extent of &ldquo, healthful&rdquo, building types and infrastructure is associated with greater cardiometabolic-related morbidity and mortality in remote Indigenous locations. Attention to environments stands to improve remote Indigenous health.