LIVE UPDATES
The deployment of a safe and effective Lassa vaccine across 15 nations in West Africa might save 3,300 lives and up to $128 million in societal expenditures over 10 years, according to a peer-reviewed study published in Nature Medicine.
The study, conducted by the Universities of Oxford and Liverpool and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, found that vaccination against Lassa Fever, a viral disease spread by rodents and contaminated food, would shield millions of people from contracting the illness and the expensive medical bills that could otherwise force them into poverty.
The study highlights the urgent need for a vaccine to protect people from this debilitating and sometimes deadly disease, which is a serious public health problem in West Africa and is already threatened to spread to further regions as climate and environmental change increase epidemic risk.
