Rise in Mpox infections in Democratic Republic of Congo: Hospital overcrowded with patients as demand for virus vaccine rises

Doctor Tresor Basubi examined the breathing and heartbeat of a quiet little girl whose body was covered with skin lesions caused by the disease that has already killed 548 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo this year.

Cases have now occurred in all provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country with 100 million inhabitants.

“This is just the beginning. The child does not suffer from asthenia, does not show any severe symptoms and can walk on her own,” said Basubi as he examined the girl.

In benign cases, which make up the majority of infections, treatments can help relieve symptoms – for example, paracetamol to reduce fever and a zinc oxide cream to soothe the lesions.

“Patients experience itching, but the scars disappear over time,” the doctor added.

Although there have been previous cases of MPOX, a new, more deadly and contagious strain of the virus – clade 1b – causes death in about 3.6 percent of cases, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), with infants and children being more at risk.

The Democratic Republic of Congo, which has recorded around 16,000 cases so far this year, is the epicenter of an epidemic that prompted the WHO to issue the highest international alert on Wednesday.

In the neighboring province of South Kivu alone, around 350 new cases are registered every week, said Justin Bengehya, an epidemiologist at the South Kivu provincial health authority.

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Goma, the capital of North Kivu, is almost surrounded by armed insurgency, and hundreds of thousands of displaced people are crowded into makeshift camps. There are fears in the province that the number of refugees will spread on a large scale due to promiscuity.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, there are at least 7.3 million displaced people in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

At the treatment center, parents held their contagious children in their arms despite the risk of skin-to-skin transmission, and staff sensitized them to preventive measures.

“My son was hospitalized here for Mpox and my daughter took care of him. After they were discharged on Sunday, my daughter showed the same symptoms on Wednesday,” said Deogracias Mahombi Sekabanza, a health worker who brought his daughter Confiance with him.

Sekabanza said his son became infected while playing with friends.

Furaha Makambo lived in a nearby tent with her three children, Ornella, Rachelle and Baraka. They all contracted Mpox in the camp from which they were evicted.

“My children sleep in the same bed and are constantly contaminated at the same time. And I didn't have an extra bed to separate them,” Makambo said.

After her husband's death, she fled her home in the Masisi area of ​​eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where violent armed groups operate, and sought refuge in Goma.

Dozens of militias from the Democratic Republic of Congo and neighboring countries have been fighting in the east of the country for 30 years.

“We are afraid. This disease must be eradicated so that it no longer reaches the displaced people, because it can wipe us out,” she told AFP.

While preventive measures and experience from previous epidemics help staff to respond quickly to suspected cases, children in particular find it difficult to maintain social distance.

“This disease is very contagious. If you touch the sweat, urine or even the clothes of a sick person, you are in direct contact with it,” said doctor Basubi.

“Washing hands with soap or ash can help protect, but there is no guarantee,” he added.

In a tent she shares with three children from other families, Nyota Mukobelwa, a doughnut seller displaced by the fighting, sat on her bed and giggled elegantly for the cameras.

“The vaccine must be available, otherwise the epidemic will continue to spread, many people will die and we will infect our children at home,” she said.

WHO has urged manufacturers to increase their production of Mpox vaccines to contain the spread of clade 1b cases and asked countries to donate supplies to countries with outbreaks.