Third of Burundi mpox cases in children under five: UN

GENEVA: Youngsters have been especially impacted by mpox outbreaks raging in Africa, with children under five accounting for nearly a third of the cases in Burundi, the UN children´s agency said on Friday.

Burundi is the second hardest-hit country on the continent after the Democratic Republic of Congo.

“Children in Burundi are bearing the brunt of the mpox outbreak, with alarming rates of infection and severe health impacts,” said Paul Ngwakum, Unicef´s Regional Health Advisor for Eastern and Southern Africa.

Ngwakum said two-thirds of cases in Burundi concerned people aged 19 and under.

“Of particular concern is the rise of mpox among children under five years of age, representing 30 percent of the reported cases,” he told reporters in Geneva, speaking via videolink from Bujumbura.