Some patients with ‘mystery disease’ in DRC are suffering from malaria, WHO says

Ten patients suffering from a mysterious disease that has broken out in the Democratic Republic of Congo have tested positive for malaria, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said.

Dr. However, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the patients could have more than one disease at a time.

Cases of unidentified diseases in a remote part of the Democratic Republic of Congo have caused alarm, with specialist teams from the WHO and the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sent to investigate. Those investigations are continuing.

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s health minister said last week that the disease has killed 79 people in the Panzi health zone since October 24, with 376 cases identified. Most were children under five.

The main symptoms are similar to those of the flu, with patients experiencing headaches, coughing, breathing problems and anemia.

At a briefing on December 5, Dieudonne Mwamba, the head of the DRC’s National Institute of Public Health, said the symptoms pointed to a respiratory disease, but without a clear diagnosis it was difficult to determine the cause, or whether it was a virus or was a virus. bacteria.

He said the affected area was “vulnerable”, with 40% of people there malnourished. The DRC is also dealing with an outbreak of MPox and seasonal flu.

There is little testing capacity and patient samples have been transported to a regional laboratory in Kikwit, 300 miles away, and to the national reference laboratory in Kinshasa, more than 400 miles away, a two-day journey by road.

Amid speculation that the outbreak could represent ‘Disease diagnosed disease was rather than an ‘unknown’ disease.

Officials said a respiratory disease such as flu or Covid-19 was being investigated as a possible cause, as well as malaria, measles and others.

In one update On Sunday, the WHO said the affected area “has experienced a worsening of food insecurity in recent months, low vaccination coverage and very limited access to diagnostics and quality case management.”

It said there were also shortages of health staff, supplies and transport, with “very limited” malaria control measures.