High alert for health services after Lassa fever death at Luton and Dunstable Hospital

Health services remain on alert after the death of a patient from Lassa fever at the Luton and Dunstable Hospital, a meeting heard.

And a major incident declared in the East of England will continue for "a few more days", Luton Borough Council's health and wellbeing board was told on Tuesday.

This was one of three suspected cases of the illness in the UK, after two members of the same family also contracted the disease.

The infections are linked to recent travel from West Africa, where the disease, an Ebola-like virus, is endemic, according to the UK health security agency (UKHSA).

Joint medical director and responsible officer at Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Paul Tisi told the board: "Clearly colleagues here and the public will be aware of the information published by UKHSA outlining that there were two confirmed cases of Lassa fever and a probable case.

"There was an updated statement provided by the UKHSA on Friday (Feb 11th) confirming sadly that one case had died within Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust," he explained.

"NHS East of England published a statement on the same day confirming there's a regional major incident in progress around staffing in a number of clinical areas across the region.

"We've been working closely with this organisation during the last week, as well as with colleagues from BLMK Clinical Commissioning Group and NHS East of England.

"And that's been escalated up to the national team. It's important any queries or questions are directed to the UKHSA."

Labour Round Green councillor Tahmina Saleem asked how contagious Lassa fever is.

"I understand it's quite a serious illness," she said. "But I also gather it's not as contagious as Covid, so Lassa fever is harder to spread.

"When the pandemic began we were told we've only got the one Covid incident. But, in my mind, just one is sufficient to lead to many more.

"Is that something we should really be bearing in mind or is it not a great concern in terms of its ability to spread?"

Mr Tisi replied: "That's covered very well in the UKHSA public statements on the government website. That explains the risk of transmission and confirms the risk to the public is very low.

"If we're comparing them, I would agree the risk of transmission is lower than with Covid. I would direct people to that statement which covers it in quite clear detail for the public."

LBC's director of public health Sally Cartwright said: "It's a different way of transmission, as a virus, as a disease. Covid is airborne droplet, and Lassa fever is secretions and blood.

"So it's a completely different transmission route and because of that the risk of ongoing transmission across the public, if you did come into contact with a case, is much lower."

Director of clinical transformation for BLMK CCG and Luton GP Dr Nina Pearson, who chaired the board meeting, added: "Health workers and those who've been in contact with cases have been traced already.

"Very detailed contact tracing has taken place and appropriate advice given to those who were involved in care. We'll keep alert because it's a rare condition."

Labour Challney councillor Khtija Malik wondered whether it had impacted on health services in Luton.

Mr Tisi confirmed: "There's some impact on services across the East of England, which is why the region is managing this as a major incident. This will continue in that way for a few days."