Fangak County, South Sudan- When Nyasebit Chan moved to Old Fangak in Jonglei State, South Sudan, a hepatitis E outbreak was well underway. The virus affects people of all ages but is particularly risky for pregnant women and girls. A mother to two sons, Nyasebit had left her immediate family in New Fangak to support her stepbrothers at a difficult time.
Hepatitis E outbreaks are unusually long compared to other epidemics. Unlike measles, for example, which might race through an unvaccinated community in six weeks, hepatitis E’s long incubation period means transmission is slower, and outbreaks can last for months. In Old Fangak, Nyasebit heard about the vaccination campaign for women and girls of child–bearing age.
“When I came in May, I found that people have been vaccinated. I wanted to be vaccinated as well,” she says.
Launched by MSF in December 2023, the campaign consisted of multiple rounds of vaccination to reach as many women as possible in Old Fangak and the isolated communities of the flooded marshlands spread across Fangak County.
Nyasebit was not able to escape hepatitis E but had received two doses of the three–dose schedule, which helped reduce the severity of her infection. At first, though, it wasn’t clear she had it, as the symptoms are often confused with the more common malaria.
