MPOX activity in Africa continues at a steady pace, and although task force officials have identified some encouraging trends, some countries are seeing a decline in pediatric The country is facing new challenges, including an increase in co-infections of MPOX and measles, officials said. This was announced yesterday by officials from the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).
Factors contributing to co-infection include low measles vaccination coverage
Ngashi Ngongo, M.D., who leads the Africa CDC’s mpox incident management team, said that suspected measles cases in South Kivu started to rise alongside mpox cases in early May, and a similar trend is being seen in North Kivu. said. He said this pattern was very concerning.
He said coverage of vaccines, including measles, was very low in some regions, leaving unvaccinated child populations vulnerable to the highly contagious disease. He added that this trend highlights the risk of co-infection in treatment centers, especially in areas with low measles vaccination coverage.
Most cases occur in children under 15 years of age.
Ngongo said other factors were also likely at play, such as high rates of childhood malnutrition, which could weaken immune systems and increase vulnerability to both diseases. He said researchers are still trying to understand the interaction between measles and mpox.
He added that this trend highlights the risk of co-infection in treatment centers, especially in areas with low measles vaccination coverage.
Promising trends despite steady increase in number of infections
Last week, the region reported 2,729 new cases, of which 1,001 were laboratory-confirmed. A further 26 people died from the infection. The Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi accounted for 96% of infections last week. So far this year, 45,327 cases have been reported in the region, including 1,014 deaths.
Ngongo said Liberia, Kenya and Uganda are all reporting an increase in the number of infections.
However, he noted some encouraging developments, including five of the 18 affected countries – Cameroon, Gabon, Guinea, Rwanda and South Africa – not reporting a confirmed case for four weeks.
Testing rates and test positivity rates are also trending upward, indicating improved sample management due to increased training. However, Ngongo noted that contact tracing remains a challenge.
Another positive development in the outbreak response is the high uptake of the mpox vaccine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, including in crowded settings in the Democratic Republic of the Congo such as prisons and internally displaced persons camps. Vaccination is underway in three provinces: Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a vaccination campaign in Kinshasa is scheduled to begin on November 5. After delays, vaccinations are scheduled to begin in Nigeria on October 29. Ngongo said 5.6 million doses of mpox vaccine have been confirmed so far, including 2.5 million doses of mpox vaccine. 1 million doses of Bavarian Nordic’s Ginneos vaccine and 3 million doses of Japan’s LC-16 vaccine.
