The girls and young women may be more susceptible to an infectious subvariant of the virus that causes mpox that has spread from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to neighboring countries, a study showed.
Of the 154 cases that tested positive for human immunodeficiency virus (mpox) in Burundi, which borders eastern Congo, between July 3 and September 9, the average age was 9.5 years , as indicated by the researchers in a study published on October 17 in the scientific journal Eurosurveillance. The average age of infected girls was six years old, while that of boys was 17.5 years old, according to the data.
The subvariant, clade Ib, appears to spread more rapidly than an earlier variant, and hundreds of children have died cause of the disease in eastern Congo. The newest strain has spread through close physical contact and sexual activity of all kinds.
Compared to the clade Iawhich has been circulating for decades in central and western Africa, but is primarily transmitted through contact with animals, clade II, which has spread throughout the world, is primarily transmitted through sexual relations between men.
Gender-specific differences were observed “when considering age, mpox test positivity, and hospitalization,” the researchers wrote. There was little age difference between men and women who tested negative among the suspected cases, they said.
Independent analysis shows effects on young women too
An independent analysis of 254 patients from the university hospital in Bujumbura, Burundi’s largest city, showed a marked difference between men and women. Women hospitalized with the disease had, on average, 16 years old, compared to men, who were 32 years old.
Most people hospitalized had a generalized pustular skin rash and 20 percent had a genital rash. While half had a fever and more than a third had swollen lymph nodes, there were a few cases of muscle pain and two cases of vision loss.
Prior to the current clade Ib outbreak, Burundi had not reported any cases of mpox. No related deaths have been recorded in the country, even though 1,100 Africans have died this year from illnesses caused by all variants of the virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Africa.
The researchers who worked on the study came from universities in Canada, Belgium, Burundi, Congo and the United States.
