Mpox in DR Congo: The children who are suffering the most

Health workers have been visiting places like Mudja camp near Mount Nyiragongo, to educate people on what to do when they spot symptoms, such as limiting contact with others.

“This disease has brought us a lot of fear that we shall all get sick,” says Josephine Sirangunza, who lives in the camp with her five children.

She says the government needs to give out some basic equipment to help stop the disease spreading.

“When we see someone getting sick, we worry about how to protect ourselves.”

It is a sentiment shared by Bosco Sebuke, 52, who has 10 children.

“We have been sensitised [about mpox], but we are full of fear because we are crowded in our shelters. We sleep in very poor conditions, we share bedding, so prevention is difficult and because of that, we are afraid,” he says.

The outbreak in eastern DR Congo is of a new strain of mpox called Clade 1b and it has now spread to neighbouring countries.

Last week, the Congolese government said it hoped that vaccines would start to arrive from the US and Japan soon. Until then, the country does not have any vaccines despite being at the epicentre of the virus.

Mr Matabaro, the father of Amani who is now recovering from mpox, says he is hopeful with news that vaccines could be on their way.

But the distribution will be extremely limited and, as Dr Ngadjole says, vaccination is just one aspect of reducing the spread of the virus.

“The [easiest] action to put in place is to improve the hygiene. When we improve the hygiene at household level, when we improve the hygiene at community level, it’s very easy to decrease the risk of transmission.”

Ms Sirangunza echoes the doctor’s thoughts: “Tell our leaders to send us medicine, soap, and other protective measures so that we don’t get infected.”