The cumulative number of confirmed mpox cases in Uganda has hit 5 431, with 40 deaths reported since the outbreak was declared nine months ago, the Ministry of Health has said, adding that growing measles cases in refugee camps, meanwhile, is increasing pressure on the struggling public healthcare sector.
A total of 44 new mpox infections were recorded within 24 hours last week, with increased severity among patients admitted to hospital with mpox, it noted.
The report said people aged 25-29 were the most affected demographic group in the country.
Last month, the World Health Organisation warned that Uganda has the highest number of community-transmitted mpox cases globally – but has intensified surveillance, case management, and public awareness efforts to contain the virus, reports CN News.
Last month it received an additional consignment of 100 000 doses of mpox vaccines from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, with adults aged 25-35 being prioritised in the ongoing second phase of mpox vaccination campaign, which started on 2 April.
Measles adds to burden
The country also reported a measles outbreak in three refugee settlements accommodating people fleeing conflict in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Nine cases had been confirmed in the past week, reports NewsCentral, and active case searches are ongoing at the community and facility level.
“Village health teams are continuing with door-to-door sensitisations and active case searches,” said health authorities, while screening is ongoing at the facilities’ points of entry by the triage teams.
Sierra Leone medics jabbed
Meanwhile, nearly 7 000km to the west, health workers in Sierra Leone are showing no hesitation in their acceptance of mpox vaccinations that were recently offered, with hundreds of them queueing for the shots as infections continue to spread.
Freetown’s 34 Military Hospital has seen both Ebola and Lassa Fever outbreaks, and now it’s at the forefront of the country’s mpox response, with the opportunity to get vaccinated being one that the seasoned staff were not going to miss.
Last month, 61 300 mpox vaccines began to roll out in a drive that would prioritise health workers and contacts of mpox patients, and offer a dose of protection to the country’s most exposed.
Gavi reports that the viral infection has killed three and sickened more than 477 since the mpox emergency was declared in January.
The 26-bed mpox ward at 34 Military Hospital, a cutting-edge infectious disease facility on Freetown’s Wilberforce Military Base, with a record of successfully tackling Ebola, Covid-19 and Lassa Fever, has been operating at capacity for weeks.
For the nurses and doctors staffing the unit, that has meant working under the constant risk of infection. But the arrival of the vaccines – 58 300 of which were sent by Gavi, with the remainder donated by the Republic of Ireland – brought some relief.
“I took the vaccine with my colleagues and it had no major side effects, except for the mild side-effects of tenderness at the injection site, fatigue and slight fever, that easily subsides,” said Adama Kamara, a military captain and the Clinical Lead at the Mpox Treatment Centre at the hospital. “Many health workers are getting the vaccine – there is no hesitancy,” she added.
Scary epidemics
Kamara and her team are not fazed by epidemics, she said.
The facility was established after the Ebola outbreak. “We started as an isolation unit and expanded to testing of infectious diseases, to treatment. The centre has just opened a medical research laboratory.”
Now 34 Military Hospital is the focal point for testing and treating Sierra Leone’s mounting tally of mpox patients. Thirty-eight of them have so far recovered and been released, but with the epidemic growing, and with beds on the mpox ward being limited in number, more and more patients have needed to be passed on to the newly-established police and Jui treatment centres.
CN News Africa – Mpox death toll rises to 40 in Uganda as cases surpass 5,400
News Central Africa article – Measles Outbreak Hits Uganda Settlements (Open access)
Gavi article – Sierra Leone health workers line up for mpox jab amid growing outbreak (Open access)
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Sierra Leone declares mpox emergency
Mpox: ‘Nobody is safe until Africa is safe’