(Goma) “We are afraid, this disease must be eradicated”: at the Nyiragongo general hospital, the main establishment dedicated to the mpox epidemic in Goma, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the number of patients is increasing.
Every day, between five and twenty new patients potentially infected with MPOX wait outside the tents of the isolation centre for an initial diagnosis.
Toddlers, terrified by this strange world populated by masked health workers protected by gloves and overalls, are dragged by their parents, crying, behind the tarpaulin doors.
Inside, Dr. Trésor Basubi examines a little girl. Her face and limbs are covered in skin lesions characteristic of this disease that has already killed 548 people in the DRC since the beginning of the year and has now affected all the provinces of this country of around 100 million people.
“It’s still early days, the child is not asthenic, does not show any signs of seriousness, she walks by herself,” concludes Dr. Basubi.
For mild cases, which are the vast majority, treatment mainly consists of soothing the symptoms. Paracetamol for fever, zinc oxide for rashes, among others, which covers the skin with a thick layer of whitish cream.
“The patients feel itchy, but with time, the scars disappear,” says Dr. Basubi. The current epidemic is characterized by a more contagious and dangerous virus, with an estimated mortality rate of 3.6%.
Displaced people crowded together
With around 16,000 cases recorded since the start of the year, the DRC is the focus and epicentre of the epidemic which led the World Health Organisation (WHO) to trigger its highest level of alert at the international level on Wednesday.
South Kivu province is recording around 350 new cases per week, according to Dr Justin Bengehya, epidemiologist at the South Kivu provincial health division.
Goma, the capital of the neighbouring province of North Kivu, which is virtually surrounded by an armed rebellion and where hundreds of thousands of displaced people are crammed into makeshift camps, fears a large-scale spread due to overcrowding.
But in the stony alleys of the isolation center, demarcated by barriers and warning signs, the concern remains contained. Parents hold their sick children in their arms despite the risks of spreading. The center’s staff regularly raise awareness among patients to make them apply barrier gestures.
“My son was hospitalized here for MPOX, and my daughter was the one looking after him. After they were discharged on Sunday, the same signs appeared around Wednesday in my daughter,” says Deogracias Mahombi Sekabanza, himself a health worker, accompanying his daughter Confiance.
PHOTO GUERCHOM NDEBO, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
In the stony alleys of the isolation center, demarcated by barriers and warning signs, the anxiety remains contained. Parents hold their sick children in their arms despite the risks of spreading.
“Highly contagious disease”
In the neighbouring tent, Furaha Makambo lives with her three children, Ornella, Rachelle and Baraka, all three of whom were infected in the displaced persons site where they live.
“My children sleep together in the same bed and all get infected at the same time, and I didn’t have another bed to separate them,” she explains.
Originally from the Masisi territory (east), which is plagued by violence from armed groups, Mme Makambo took refuge in Goma after her husband’s death. “We are afraid, this disease must be eradicated and no longer affect the displaced, because it could exterminate us,” she told AFP.
While awareness-raising actions and experience of epidemics allow suspected cases to be quickly treated, distancing instructions are difficult to enforce, particularly by children.
Deogracias Mahombi Sekabanza claims that her son was infected while playing with his friends.
“The disease is very contagious. If you touch the sweat, urine or even the clothes of a sick person and you are not protected, you are directly infected,” warns Dr. Trésor Basubi.
“Washing your hands with soap or ash can protect you, but it is not guaranteed,” he adds.
In a tent she shares with three children from other families, Nyota Mukobelwa receives us sitting on her bed. This donut seller, displaced by the conflict, has preserved her composure and elegance. She lets out an embarrassed burst of laughter in front of the camera that has come to film her in this uncomfortable position.
“The vaccine must be available, because otherwise the epidemic will spread further, many people will die and we will contaminate the children who are at home,” she pleads.
The WHO and health NGOs have called on vaccine manufacturers to significantly increase production.