Disease X: What is Disease X?
Disease X is a new disease reported to have caused alarm in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This illness looks somewhat like the flu. In this report, many individuals who caught it have been children. It is such an illness that will have the World Health Organization sending a team to have some clarity about the situation at hand.
Current Situation
Since last October 24, cases of Disease X were reported to total 406 at a place known as Panzi, situated in the southwestern region of Congo. Since last week, this was 376. Most cases of people infected were below five years of age. Death toll now reaches at 31 while that was previously 79 deaths. The outbreak is taking place in a remote area where getting help is very difficult due to bad roads and heavy rain.
Symptoms and Challenges
People with Disease X manifest symptoms such as fever, headache, cough, runny nose, and body aches. The WHO reported that most of the severe cases are of people who also suffer from malnutrition; therefore, it is difficult to know the cause of the disease. The WHO team is working to collect samples for testing and to learn how the disease spreads.
Possible Causes
Several possible causes of Disease X are being considered by health experts. They include other illnesses such as malaria, influenza, and even COVID-19 as possible causes for the symptoms. Laboratory tests are being conducted to know more about what might be causing this outbreak.
What's Next?
The WHO team is meant to treat the patients and educate communities about staying safe. They also aim at establishing whether a situation is true, and in this case, they are investigating to establish whether there is more than one disease. The situation is quite grave, but health officers do all their best to take adequate responses promptly.
With inputs from agencies
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