United States: Health officials also announced on Friday that the mysterious illness outbreak in a remote region of the Democratic Republic of Congo has been identified as an acute respiratory infection. This infection has already been made worse by malaria, which is complicating the illness. Authorities are now working to control the situation and provide care to those affected.
Many specimens have been analyzed to further knowledge on the sickness. The prevalence of malaria P. falciparum amongst RDT positives was 64.7 %, and about 67.2 % of clients positively diagnosed by PCR laboratory test. Other tests also identified ordinary respiratory viruses, such as flu viruses.
Extended epidemiological monitoring persists while further laboratory diagnosis is conducted because the outbreak seems unwaning. The weekly caseload has not substantially climbed since early November, according to WHO information.
Nevertheless, there was one week with a rise in cases, namely the week ending on December 15, which may be connected with better detection of cases made by rapid response teams deployed to the regions; the number of deaths did not grow nearly as much in the same week.
Current on-going investigations, and preliminary lab results indicate probable concurrent viral respiratory infections and falciparum malaria along with acute malnutrition have worsened severity of infections and deaths, says the WHO in its report of Friday.
The symptoms that have caused complicated cases including those fatal ones include but not limited to; respiratory distress, anemia and any signs of severe malnutrition that affects the children most.
According to age distribution, children below the age of five have been most affected, comprising forty-nine percent of the total cases observed and fifty-four percent of all observed fatalities. This age group constitutes only 18% of the populations in this area.
Women are also more affected than men; this the WHO attributes to the frequent contact between mothers and their children during episodes of acute respiratory illnesses.
The disease is roaring through the Panzi district of the country’s Kwango Province, and this is an area that lies in the remotest part of rural. This population also has low vaccination coverage; the rainy season increases malaria transmission and is a challenge to the poor transport and limited health facilities.