More MPOX virus vaccines needed as infection situation stabilizes in Congo

Some health officials say Mpox Congo's infection numbers appear to be “stable”, a sign that the World Health Organization's major outbreak may be over. Declaration of global emergency There may be a downward trend in August.

In recent weeks, the African country has been reporting about 200 to 300 laboratory-confirmed cases of mpox each week, according to the WHO. This is down from about 400 new cases per week in July. There is also a noticeable decline Kamitsugaa new, more contagious variant of mpox first emerged in a mining town in eastern Congo.

But the U.N. health agency acknowledged Friday that only 40 to 50 per cent of suspected cases in Congo have been tested and that the virus continues to spread in some parts of the country and elsewhere, including Uganda. Ta.

Doctors are encouraged by the decline in cases in some parts of Congo, but it is still unclear what kind of physical contact is causing the spread. Health experts are also frustrated by the low number of vaccinations the central African country has received, at 265,000, making it difficult to get vaccines where they are needed in the vast country. It is said that this has been found out. The WHO estimates that 50,000 people have been vaccinated in Congo, a country of 110 million people.

Scientists also say urgent action is needed. Widespread vaccination efforts across the continent To stop the spread of mpox and avoid further infections Genetic mutations of concernsimilar to that detected in Congo earlier this year after months of low-level circulation.

Dr Zachary Lissa, head of the charity Arima's work in Congo, said: “If we miss this opportunity, we will significantly increase the likelihood of another major outbreak.”

So far this year, there have been approximately 43,000 suspected cases in Africa. 1000 people diedmainly in Congo.

“We have seen that past outbreaks, such as the one in Nigeria in 2017, can lead to larger global events if not effectively contained.” . The 2017 fad ultimately led to the 2022 fad. mpox global pandemic It has influenced over 100 countries.

Lissa cited a decline in the number of infections in Camituga, where mpox first spread among the population. sex worker This will pave the way for more vaccination, surveillance and education programs to be put in place.

I don't know about mpox

Georgette Hamri, an 18-year-old sex worker, didn't know about mpox until a vaccination team arrived last week in the poor neighborhood where she works in Goma, eastern Congo's largest city.

“They said we were very much at risk of infection,” she said. “We strongly urge our customers to use condoms, but some customers refuse… If they don't want to use a condom, we'll double the amount they pay.”

Hamri said she and other sex worker friends each received 2,000 Congolese Francs (about $0.70) from a charity to be vaccinated against mpox, but it wasn't the money that upset her. spoke.

“We also need vaccines. I think we're protected now,” she said.

The African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that at least 3 million doses of mpox vaccine are needed to stop the virus in Congo, and another 7 million doses are needed in other parts of Africa. So far, WHO and partners have allocated 900,000 vaccines to nine MPX-affected African countries and expects 6 million vaccines to be available by the end of this year.

The MPX outbreaks in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda originated in Congo, and numerous traveler cases have also been confirmed in Sweden, Thailand, Germany, India, and the United Kingdom.

Less than half of Congo's most at-risk people have been vaccinated, said Heather Carr, director of the International Rescue Committee for Congo.

“We have very little vaccines and nothing for children,” she said.

Vaccines destined for Congo are mainly supplied through donor countries such as the United States and UNICEF, which primarily uses tax dollars to purchase vaccines.

“Vaccine donations to Africa are a very small philanthropic effort,” said Dr. Chris Baylor, director of Duke University's Institute for Global Health. “What we need is a public health approach to vaccinate large populations.”

Bavarian Nordic, the pharmaceutical company that produces the most widely used mpox vaccine, has announced that it will sell the vaccine for Africa at the lowest possible price.

Advocacy group Public Citizen estimates that UNICEF paid US$65 ($109) per dose of Bavarian Nordic's Ginneos mpox vaccine, more than nearly every other vaccine used in public health programs. much higher than.

Dr. Salim Abdul Karim, an infectious disease expert at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, said mpox outbreaks usually peak and quickly disappear because of how the virus spreads. But this time, he said, there are two complicating factors: transmission of the virus through sexual activity and continued spread from infected animals.

“We are now entering new territory with mpox,” he added. “But we will never solve this problem until we vaccinate most of our population.”