The DRC Scrambles as Measles Outbreak Death Toll Reaches 6,000
A toddler in the Democratic Republic of Congo being vaccinated for the Measles (Cr: UNICEF)
By: Julian Mok
The measles’ death toll in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has officially exceeded 6,000 since the epidemic was declared in June 2019.
Despite emergency efforts to control the disease, all 26 provinces have reports of infected citizens with total reported cases in the country reaching 310,000 this week with little sign of slowing down.
Previously overshadowed by the country’s Ebola crisis, the measles epidemic has now taken three times as many lives as the Ebola virus in 2019.
According to Vincent Sodjinou of the World Health Organization (WHO), measles control has received insufficient attention, resources and personnel. The DRC’s poor healthcare infrastructure, limited capacity of health workers (who are preoccupied with tackling Ebola) and militia attacks on healthcare facilities has also contributed to the rapidly rising rates of measles infection in the country.
Measles and Ebola also exhibit similar early symptoms which cause complications in treatment and control.
In the early stages of infection, both diseases can cause fever, sneezing and runny nose; however, symptoms begin to differentiate days later when those with measles begin to develop a rash that originates on the face and spreads across the body.
With the Ebola crisis overshadowing the measles outbreak, citizens in rural regions with access to fewer available doctors tend to assume that any combination of these early symptoms signals Ebola and report it as such. In reality, it is often measles. As a result, measles remains underreported throughout the country, but particularly in remote provinces.
The measles epidemic in the DRC is part of a larger global epidemic mostly affecting poorer countries with weak health systems and pockets of “anti-vaccine” communities in more affluent countries.
Transmitted by air, measles spreads rapidly and easily once communities are infected. Vaccination remains the most effective means of preventing and controlling the disease as there is no specific treatment.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 95% of the population must be vaccinated to ensure immunity and prevent outbreaks of the disease.
As of 2018, measles immunization in the DRC stood at 57% due to a lack of vaccines, vaccinators and health structures as well as difficulties maintaining the vaccine at a correct temperature (which affects its efficacy).
The DRC launched an emergency vaccination campaign in September 2019 aiming to control the measles virus.
The campaign, led by the DRC Ministry of Health and WHO, successfully vaccinated 18 million Congolese children under five-years-old. It is clear, however, that these efforts were not enough as children represent 74% of cases and 90% of deaths.
In response, the DRC has planned to expand its vaccine campaign in the next six months to target older children and improve other aspects of disease control like treatment, health education, community engagement, response coordination and epidemiological surveillance.
In regard to the new campaign, Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO Regional Director for Africa says, “We are doing our utmost to bring this epidemic under control. Yet to be truly successful we must ensure that no child faces the unnecessary risk of death from a disease that is easily preventable by a vaccine. We urge our donor partners to urgently step up their assistance.”
They aim to vaccinate at least 95% of children between six months and 14 years by June 2020.