Encomium
Nigerians who survived the deadly Ebola Virus Disease, in Lagos, have opened up on their ordeal, saying it was a close shave with death. The survivors were hosted by Governor Babatunde Fashola at the State House, Ikeja, Lagos on Thursday, September 18, 2014.
‘I Got Ebola By Simply Opening A Door’ – Dr Fadipe Akinniyi
Another survivor, Dr. Fadipe Akinniyi, also of the First Consultants Medical Centre said he was happy to be alive after surviving the deadly disease. He contacted the disease by simply opening the door.
“I am most happy here today because as a matter of fact, when everyone was running helter-skelter, I told myself, I only opened the door and by virtue of that, nothing should happen to me. I never knew I was deceiving myself until the day I recorded my temperature and there was a kind of spike and I asked myself what was going on? I had treated malaria a while ago and I told myself it could be malaria.
“I used anti-malaria drugs but nothing changed. Rather, it was getting worse. Eventually, I went to a private hospital to treat myself because I did not want to admit it was Ebola. I felt they would be able to proffer solution to all my problems but it wasn’t to be so. Rather, it was becoming terrible and I started stooling and vomiting. I summoned courage and called the doctors at the monitoring unit that my temperature had been persistently high.
“They told me not to worry, that they would come and pick me up. In another four hours, they came with ambulance and before I knew it, I found myself at Yaba Isolation Centre. It all happened like a dream because I have read a lot about Ebola. Even while in school, we had a lot of things on haemorrhagic virus, how it wreaks direct havoc on human beings, bleeding and all that. You continue to bleed until you are dead.
“I was very devastated but I kept the faith. I remember Dr Adesina telling me when we got there that I would leave this place no matter what happened. She said as it is, people survive the virus, that I should not mind, that I would survive the disease. So, I kept my faith and with the help of God, I am very grateful to Dr. David who was the initial doctor who attended to us before our doctors who were on strike finally emerged.
“Dr David, really tried. He really tried. He committed himself totally to us and if I should have time to meet him again, I think I will tell him he is a very brave man, leaving his comfort zone to come and treat us here in Nigeria. Knowing that with these people, after a couple of time, you could actually contract the disease. It was not easy. I thank God because with time, things got better. The vomiting stopped, the fever subsided and eventually, I was declared Ebola negative. I was very happy to reunite with my family and everything changed to normal.”
‘The fear is still everywhere’ MR. COLLINS PHILLIPS, Maxmed Laboratory
Are you aware of the new resumption date?
Yes, I am in short we all are.
What is your take on the new resumption date, is it approved by Virologists?
No, the resumption date is not approved by virologists, doctors and even NUT because the fear is still everywhere and at the same time we’re trying to consider the education of our children!
Federal government wants schools to resume September 22, but NUT prefers December.
What is the progress made on the vaccines of the Ebola disease?
With Ebola everywhere now, there’s a small global market. So it’s going to require government funding, that means their financial support is really needed for the small companies that develop these vaccines.
– FOLUSO SAMUEL and WALE OLASUPO
