(ANN/THE STAR) – A recent study indicates that girls and young women may be more susceptible to a new infectious subvariant of the virus responsible for mpox. This subvariant, which has spread from the Democratic Republic of Congo to neighboring countries, has raised concerns among health officials.
From July 3 to September 9, 2024, Burundi reported 154 confirmed mpox cases, with researchers noting a median age of 9.5 years among those infected. Alarmingly, the average age of infected girls was just six years, compared to 17.5 years for boys.
The subvariant, known as clade Ib, appears to spread more rapidly than previous strains, resulting in hundreds of child fatalities in eastern Congo. Unlike the clade Ia variant, which has circulated in Central and West Africa for decades and is primarily transmitted through contact with animals, clade Ib spreads through close physical contact and various forms of sexual activity. Clade II, which has gained global traction, mainly transmits through sexual intercourse among men.
Researchers observed notable gender-specific differences in age, mpox positivity, and hospitalization rates. Among suspected cases, there was minimal age variation between males and females who tested negative. However, a separate analysis of 254 patients at Burundi’s largest teaching hospital, located in Bujumbura, highlighted a significant disparity: hospitalised females averaged 16 years old, while hospitalised males averaged 32 years old.
Most hospitalised patients presented with a general pustular rash, with 20 per cent experiencing a genital rash. Common symptoms included fever in half of the cases and swollen lymph glands in over a third, alongside a few instances of muscle pain and two cases of vision loss.
Burundi had not reported any mpox cases prior to the current outbreak of clade Ib, and no related deaths have been recorded in the country. However, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reports that over 1,100 Africans have died from diseases caused by all variants of the virus this year.
The research was conducted by a collaborative team from universities in Canada, Belgium, Burundi, Congo, and the United States.
