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More than 570 people die from MPox in DR Congo, wait for vaccine continues; is another global pandemic expected?
So far, more than 570 people in DR Congo have died after being infected with the Mpox virus – which the WHO has declared a global health emergency. Health Minister Samuel-Roger Kamba said the central African country was still waiting for vaccines from the United States and Japan – who have promised to send at least 50,000 doses and 3.5 million doses for children. “I hope that by next week we will be able to see the vaccines arrive,” Kamba told the conference. However, experts believe it is highly unlikely that Mpox will lead to a global pandemic like Covid-19 or swine flu, as both are usually airborne viruses that spread quickly. Read on to find out more.
While ampox has been known for decades, a new, more deadly and more contagious strain – clade 1b – causes death in about 3.6 percent of cases
The number of deaths in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) due to the highly contagious mpox, declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organization, has risen to more than 570. The central African country is still awaiting vaccines from the United States and Japan, according to the health minister. The count since the beginning of this year has risen from 16,000 cases and 548 deaths in just a few days to 16,700 cases and “a little more than 570” deaths, Health Minister Samuel-Roger Kamba told a news conference.
“We are talking about a continental emergency,” Kamba said at a press briefing after the WHO called on affected countries to ramp up vaccination programmes to combat the more deadly strain of ampox. Besides Congo, outbreaks have also been reported in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda since July. Outside Africa, new cases of the Clade-1 strain have also been detected in Sweden and Pakistan.
While ampox has been known for decades, a newer, more deadly, and more contagious strain – clade 1b – causes death in about 3.6 percent of cases, with children at greater risk, according to the WHO. Kamba said ampox is reaching “more and more young people” in the DRC, and many children under the age of 15 have been affected.
America has promised a vaccine
According to AFP, the United States has pledged to send 50,000 vaccine doses to the DRC, while Japan promised to send 3.5 million doses for children earlier this week. “I hope by next week we will be able to see the vaccine arriving,” Kamba said at the conference.
“Vaccine is the solution to our problems,” he said, urging people to get vaccinated. “Our strategic vaccination plan is ready. We are just waiting for the vaccines to arrive.”
Currently, two vaccines are being used for Ampox – JENNIOS and ACAM2000 – which have been recommended by WHO experts and approved by health authorities in several countries. JENNIOS, manufactured as the MVA-BN vaccine (Modified Vaccinia Ankara-Bavarian Nordic), is also sold under other names such as Imvammune and Imvanex. It has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency.
The vaccine used for subcutaneous injection has weakened the germs that replicate in the body, leaving the body weak and not causing full-blown disease.
Can Mpox cause a global pandemic?,
Experts believe it is highly unlikely that ampox will lead to a global pandemic like COVID-19 or swine flu. Both are usually airborne viruses that spread quickly, including among people who do not show symptoms, doctors say.
However, ampox is mainly spread through skin-to-skin contact with infected people or their soiled clothing. It often causes visible skin lesions that make people less likely to come into close contact with others.
To protect yourself from infection, doctors recommend avoiding close physical contact with someone with ampox-like lesions, not sharing their utensils, clothing, or bed sheets, and maintaining good hygiene such as washing hands regularly.
Last week, Europe’s Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said further cases of imported ampox from Africa were “very likely”, but that a local outbreak in Europe was extremely unlikely. Scientists say the risk to the general public in countries where there are no ampox outbreaks is low. While ampox is usually a self-limited illness, it causes a number of other life-threatening complications that can be fatal.
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