The cases of “unknown disease” detected a few weeks ago in a remote area of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), after being analyzed in the laboratory, suggest a combination of seasonal respiratory viruses and malaria complicated by malnutrition, the World Health Organization (WHO) indicated this Friday.
Some 430 cases analyzed in the laboratory They tested positive for different pathogens such as malaria, common respiratory viruses such as influenza, SARS-CoV-2 (cause of covid-19), other coronaviruses and adenovirus, indicated a statement from the United Nations health agency. WHO teams traveled to the affected area in the province of Kwango (southeast of the country) before the increase in acute infectionswith at least 891 cases between the end of November and mid-December, including 48 fatalities.
Symptoms included cough, fever and body weaknessin many cases compatible with acute respiratory infections, although for weeks their origin could not be confirmed, which sparked some alarm among health authorities. The case “shows the serious effect that common infectious diseases can have such as respiratory diseases or malaria in vulnerable and food insecure populations,” highlighted the WHO.
According to Congolese authorities, the cases andThey started registering since last October 24but the first alarm did not reach Kinshasa until the end of November, after which a team including three epidemiologists was sent to the area.
At the beginning of December, the disease hit the province of Kwango, specifically Panzi areaand affected 376 people. According to the health authorities in a statement, the majority of those who died were “children over 15 years of age.” The Ministry of Health also warned of the “worrying situation in the area” and expressed his “deep compassion to the families affected by this tragedy” and sent them his “sincere condolences.”
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