Coast Guard Base, Montserrado County – Panic and chaos erupted at Starbase Hospital late Monday evening when a affected person suspected to be contaminated with rabies reportedly grew to become violently unstable.
By Jaheim T. Tumu | [email protected]
Eyewitnesses say the affected person, allegedly bitten by a canine almost two months in the past, had been admitted right into a shared ward alongside different sufferers. The person started appearing aggressively, shouting threats, and destroying property throughout the hospital premises.
“He burst the entrance glass door, broke hospital machines, and began threatening everybody. All the place is smoky. We aren’t protected,” stated affected person Jallah Aloysius, who filmed a now broadly circulated video exhibiting the destruction contained in the hospital.
The footage exhibits damaged glass, broken medical tools, and smoke-filled hallways. Sufferers might be seen operating outdoors the ability, visibly shaken and in search of security. Based on Jallah, medical personnel have been overwhelmed and rapidly deserted the scene.
“The nurses ran away. Even the medical doctors ran for his or her lives. No one was right here to assist us. The person stated he would burn down the constructing—and he tried,” Jallah stated.
Witnesses say the suspected rabies affected person displayed erratic conduct earlier than smashing televisions and diagnostic instruments. He then reportedly fled the hospital grounds and entered the close by neighborhood, elevating considerations over a possible public well being danger.
“He’s locally now. We don’t know who he’ll goal subsequent. If he bites another person, the virus might unfold,” Jallah warned.
Rabies is among the most dangerous viral ailments, with signs resembling excessive aggression, hallucinations, concern of water, and paralysis. The World Well being Group (WHO) considers it virtually universally deadly as soon as signs start to point out. WHO protocols advocate strict isolation and rapid medical therapy for any suspected rabies case—requirements that have been clearly not noticed on this incident.
Sufferers and eyewitnesses have criticized the hospital’s determination to position the suspected rabies affected person in a normal ward, calling it a severe breach of an infection management procedures.
“You don’t combine a rabies affected person with different sufferers. What sort of system is that this? We’re already sick and struggling, after which they expose us to one thing worse,” one lady stated within the video.
Sufferers additionally reported that no check-ups or rounds have been performed in a single day as nurses and medical doctors remained absent from the wards out of concern. The shortage of safety and emergency preparedness on the facility has left sufferers questioning how such negligence was allowed to occur at a significant well being establishment.
FrontPageAfrica reached out to Minister of Well being Dr. Louise M. Kpoto for remark, however no official response was offered as of press time.
In the meantime, sufferers at Starbase Hospital are calling on the federal government and worldwide well being companions to intervene swiftly.
“We’re begging the emergency staff, the Ministry of Well being, and the Nationwide Public Well being Institute of Liberia to assist us. We’re sick, scared, and unsafe,” one affected person stated.
