DR Congo started its mpox vaccination programme in October after taking delivery of 265,000 doses donated by the international community.
But experts have noted that mpox appears to be disproportionately affecting children in DR Congo – and they are not being vaccinated.
Dr Samuel Boland, WHO incident manager for mpox, told the BBC that more than 96% of all new mpox cases were currently in DR Congo, Uganda and Rwanda.
In fact, more than 90% of those who have died of mpox worldwide this year have been in DR Congo.
Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica
As the WHO reports that cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are “plateauing,” the BBC visits the Mpox clinic.
eight hours prior.
Anne Soy. .
BBC News senior Africa correspondent.
Since the first batch of vaccines was distributed last month, doctors at the epicenter of the mpox outbreak in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo told the BBC that there has been a noticeable decrease in new infections.
While acknowledging to the BBC that new cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo seemed to be “plateauing,” the UN World Health Organization (WHO) warned that it was too soon to determine the effect of vaccinations.
This year, at least 900 people are thought to have died from mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, a highly contagious disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Mpox is still classified as a global public health emergency, the highest warning level for any significant outbreak, according to WHO officials.
With 19 countries in Africa reporting infections, other public health experts have cautioned that the disease is still spreading.
How is mpox spread, and what is it?
When the BBC visits the Mpox Epicentre, nurses are working in terror.
In September, the BBC traveled to Lwiro, a rural area in the eastern province of South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, approximately an hour’s drive outside the city of Bukavu.
Clade 1b, a more severe strain of mpox that is relatively new and seems to spread more readily and cause more serious illness, has been linked to the cases there.
Two months ago, we discovered that the community hospital was overcrowded, with long lines of infected patients, many of whom were compelled to share beds or mattresses on the floor, and doctors who were finding it difficult to handle the daily influx of patients.
As a nurse who has been at the forefront of the mpox crisis for months, Emmanuel Fikiri told the BBC this week, “At this time, we cannot have more than 60 patients in the hospital.”.
“This is because of the betterment, the mpox vaccination, and the assistance from multiple partners that have allowed us to care for the patients,” he stated.
Mr. Fikiri was unable to speak for very long when he last spoke to the BBC because he had to rush off to treat some of the nearly 200 patients who were then jammed into the wards.
Yet, he is now far more hopeful about the state of affairs because of the high rate of vaccination uptake in the community, which suggests that the number of new infections has significantly decreased.
The scene was considerably more tranquil when a BBC producer visited the Lwiro hospital earlier this week; the long lines had dispersed, and the children’s ward had some vacant beds.
October marked the beginning of the DR Congo’s mpox vaccination program, following the delivery of 265,000 doses that were donated by the international community.
To date, more than 50,000 people have received the vaccine; the rollout has targeted the most vulnerable communities, such as the towns and villages in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
However, mpox appears to be disproportionately affecting children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to experts, and they are not receiving the vaccination. The WHO only approved a vaccine for kids that was anticipated to be produced in Japan this week.
Children are “also vectors of transmission,” Dr. Jean Kaseya, head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), told the BBC, adding that children make up around 30% of those impacted.
Although Jackson Murhula, another nurse at the Lwiro clinic, was pleased to see things improving, he cautioned that it was too soon to declare that the disease in the community had been defeated.
“It has slowed down recently, as we used to receive 10 or 15 new cases every day, but now we only receive two or three cases,” he stated.
“Since new cases are still being reported, we cannot say that the disease has completely stabilized, but it is different from before. “.
This week, Atukuzwe Banissa, age three, is one of the children receiving treatment.
His eyes are closed and his face is speckled with white spots from the healing sores as he moans in agony.
According to his mother, 25-year-old Julienne Mwinja, his symptoms started with tears in his eyes.
After she applied eye drops, the young boy’s mouth, face, and body began to swell.
The mother of three told the BBC, “He reminded me of someone who had been burned by hot water.”.
She then took him to Lwiro Hospital, where he remained for over a week.
The fact that more people are choosing to visit the clinic as soon as they experience symptoms rather than first seeking treatment from traditional healers is encouraging to the medics at Lwrio.
More than 96% of all new mpox cases are currently in DR Congo, Uganda, and Rwanda, according to Dr. Samuel Boland, WHO’s mpox incident manager, who spoke to the BBC.
He acknowledged that DR Congo had made progress but cautioned that it was too soon to declare the outbreak to be over.
According to him, “the number of mpox cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has plateaued to some extent, but overall, it is still a very significantly affected country globally.”.
Indeed, the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been the site of over 90% of the mpox deaths globally this year.
However, because there aren’t many testing facilities in some parts of the continent, only 77 deaths have been confirmed in the lab, so precise numbers are unknown.
According to Dr. Boland, “there is still a very, very strong need to ensure that we continue intervening at pace and at scale, even in places where we see that there may not be an escalation of cases at this moment in time.”.
We may observe a change in transmission in certain areas, but we also observe escalation in other areas, so we’re not quite done yet. “,”.
Vaccination campaigns have also begun in other parts of Africa, such as Rwanda, the neighbor of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Nigeria.
According to Dr. Kaseya, the Africa CDC has not observed any significant changes in the DR Congo over the past month and cautioned that it was too soon to declare the mpox outbreak under control.
By mid-January to February, “perhaps we’ll start to see a decrease in the cases of infection and deaths” as a result of all the efforts to administer vaccinations, strengthen surveillance, and improve laboratory systems.
A coordinated worldwide response is urgently needed, according to Tedros Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the WHO.
With cases reported in the US, Sweden, India, Germany, Thailand, Pakistan, and the UK, the outbreak has now spread outside of Africa.
These might also be of interest to you.
For additional news from Africa, visit BBCAfrica.com.
You can follow us at BBC Africa on Facebook, @BBCAfrica on Twitter, or bbcafrica on Instagram.
