Faced with malaria worsened by the rains, vaccination comes late

South Sudan has one of the highest incidences of malaria in the world, with 18 deaths every day, according to the World Health Organization. This parasitic infection, transmitted by mosquitoes, is also the leading cause of death among children in the country. The floods which have affected the country for 4 years each rainy season are now making the situation worse. Report in the state of Upper Nile, in the northeast, in the third city of the country, Malakal with Julie Droin.

All around Malakal, the country’s third city, located in Upper Nile state, stagnant water encourages the proliferation of mosquitoes. Samira came urgently to the Médecins Sans Frontières pediatric hospital for her one-year-and-four-month-old baby who was showing the first signs of malaria infection. “He started vomiting and having diarrhea… I really thought my child was going to die, but thank God he is now on treatment and it will get better”

Adjak, for her part, took precautions for her 4-year-old son, but that was not enough: “ I clean the house, the kitchen, and from 5 p.m., I put the children under a mosquito net. But my son still got sick. Flooding makes the problem worse. »

The R21 vaccine was put on the market this year

Around ten children infected with malaria are currently hospitalized. Doctor Fulgence Etchiha is worried about seeing the numbers explode during the rainy season. With houses flooded, patients are less protected, he explains, especially since access to hospitals is made complicated by blocked roads.

“We have a lot more cases of malaria. In 2022, [dans le camp de réfugiés] from Malakal, we had 1943 cases. For 2024, it’s 8,500. Flooding is a problem and the numbers will continue to increase in the coming years.”he predicts.

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Part of the solution will involve vaccination, thanks to the R21 vaccine put on the market this year. It has been available since August in South Sudan and around 260,000 children are expected to benefit from it during the first phase of vaccination.

Julie Droin