She kills more than Ebola: a race against measles is underway in the bush in Seke Banza, in the far west of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where this forgotten epidemic has killed more than 6,000 people in one year .
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Several hours by motorbike from the capital of Matadi, measles has killed six people since the start of the year in Seke Banza, for 1,254 cases, half of which are under the age of five and 10% over the age of 15.
The latest victim is a little boy who died during the week at the sector’s general hospital.
Before being hospitalized, the child went to traditional doctors who gave him treatments that could damage the liver.
In the next room, half a dozen less serious cases, some on an infusion, have pimples on the face or red pustules on the body.
“There are two categories of patients: those who are in the acute phase of measles, with respiratory signs, conjunctivitis, fevers. A few months later, as their immune system is defective, they can trigger other diseases like malaria We also take care of them, “explains Méderic Monier, from Médecins sans frontières (MSF).
Adolphe Kiakupuati, a hunter like most men in the region, came with his three children. Information is a major issue in this landlocked area in the middle of the forest, on the borders of the two Congos, he underlines.
“During the vaccination period for the children (note: in November), I was busy in the forest and I was not aware of it. But now they are on treatment,” said the father.
A second stage of vaccination has just started this week under the aegis of MSF in the region, between fields, forests and river.
The vaccines are loaded on a motorcycle in the villages around Temba, a six-hour drive from Seke Banza center, on dirt roads.
Vaccinations take place in the parish of a church.
“You see, I didn’t even go to work in the fields. I came to vaccinate my children,” said smiling Elodine Nsasi, mother of three.
Logistics is the other big challenge in this landlocked area, without infrastructure. “The big challenge is to manage to supply all of these vaccines in all of these villages, while respecting quality and the cold chain. All vaccines must be between two and seven degrees”, says MSF logistician Jean Pletinckx .
“The DRC has recorded the deadliest epidemic of measles in its history, with more than 335,413 suspected cases and 6,362 deaths from January 1, 2019 to February 20, 2020”, according to the latest data from the World Health Organization (WHO) ).
“There is a decreasing trend in the number of reported measles cases,” adds the WHO. Between January 1 and mid-February, “the DRC recorded a total of 20,475 suspected measles cases including 252 deaths (fatality: 1.2%)”.
Measles has killed more than the Ebola epidemic declared on August 1, 2018 in the east of the country (2,264 deaths). “If all goes well, we can declare the end of the epidemic on April 12,” said the professor in charge of the response, Jean-Jacques Muyembe.
There have been no more confirmed cases of Ebola in the DRC since the last patient’s discharge from a treatment center in Beni on Tuesday.
No new confirmed cases have been registered for 14 days and the epidemic will be officially over “as soon as 42 days have been reached without any new registered cases,” said a WHO spokesperson in Kinshasa.
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