In South Kivu, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), treatment centers for Mpox disease are gradually becoming empty. In this Congolese province, epicenter of the epidemic, the number of cases is decreasing but caution remains in order because the fight against the disease has not yet been won.
1 minute
With our special correspondent Lwiro, Coralie Pierret
Last sweep in the Lwiro Center, before the possible arrival of new patients, on this December morning. “ Today, so far – it’s still 10:00 a.m. – we haven’t had any new cases yet », Specifies, to RFI, Doctor Alfred, doctor at the Treatment Center Mpox of Lwiro, in the Mitimoressa health zone.
“Here are the hospital rooms. At the moment we are not full. In any case, there are beds. We have bed capacity », he adds.
Around 70 patients are currently hospitalized in this establishment. “ When we opened here, patients were arriving at a severe stage but for the moment, we are seeing patients arriving at a mild stage, at a moderate stage. », further notes Doctor Alfred.
When it opened last August, the Center was overcrowded. Around 200 patients were hospitalized, recalls Dr Jean-Marie Tshibalanga, head of the Congolese NGO AIDS, supported by Unicef: “ With Unicef, we put in the beds, but the capacity was getting smaller and smaller. We reached a level where we had two patients per bed. This is how we considered adding tents, to avoid contamination. Today, we are going downhill and all this is the impact of all this support. »
In the South Kivu province, the second phase of vaccination should begin next week, according to the national Minister of Health.
Also readMpox in the DRC: the launch of the vaccination campaign postponed