Cardiovascular Function and Ribavirin Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics in Patients With Lassa Fever
Cardiovascular Function and Ribavirin Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics in Patients With Lassa Fever
Lassa fever carries a treated mortality in hospitalized patients of up to 50%. Lassa fever is
 often described as being characterized by vascular leak and shock in the terminal phase, but,
 whilst animal data supports this, there are limited data in humans. Therefore, an aim of this
 study therefore is to characterize cardiovascular function in patients with Lassa fever, with
 the ultimate goal of informing future trials of supportive or therapeutic strategies.

 Ribavirin is the current standard of care. However, the efficacy of ribavirin has not been
 established in a randomised controlled trial (RCT). There is very limited pharmacokinetic
 (PK) data on ribavirin in patients with Lassa fever and the optimal dose of ribavirin for an
 RCT is unknown. Furthermore, there are various hypothesized mechanisms of action of
 ribavirin, none of which have been investigated in humans with Lassa fever. Further aims of
 this study therefore are to characterize the PK of ribavirin in Lassa fever, and identify any
 associations between ribavirin PK parameters, viral load and markers of immune/inflammatory
 status.
Inclusion Criteria:

 -  Positive antigen or PCR test for Lassa fever

 -  Aged 10 years or above

 Exclusion Criteria:

 -  Patients for end of life care only