MADRID 28 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The World Health Organization (WHO) has indicated this Friday that the cases of disease of unknown origin that have left almost fifty dead in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) could be caused by a respiratory virus exacerbated by malaria and malnutrition, a report has suggested.
As reflected in the study, 430 laboratory samples taken from patients tested positive for common respiratory viruses and malaria.
“These findings suggest that a combination of common and seasonal viral respiratory infections and malaria, aggravated by acute malnutrition, led to an increase in severe infections and deaths, which disproportionately affected children under five years of age,” the WHO revealed. .
The WHO has reported 891 cases of the disease and 48 deaths to date, although the DRC authorities put the death toll since October 25, 2024 at 80 in early December.
Most of the cases have occurred in Panzi, in Kwango province, in the southwest of the country.
Patients present with fever, headache, cough, nasal congestion, breathing difficulties and anemia. The WHO sent a group of experts to the DRC to collaborate with local authorities in research into the disease.