The residents of the districts of Kingabwa, in Limete township, and those of other precarious peripheral neighborhoods of Masina and Kimbanseke townships, are regularly affected by measles since January until August 2019.
According to nurses met in Kingabwa medical centers, the measles epidemic has decimated several children in Kinshasa, saying that these neighborhoods face a problem of high human concentration and promiscuity is strongly pronounced.
The same sources indicate that the epidemic has become uncontrollable in recent days. There are several cases of death before and after treatment. This, given the context and risk of explosion of this measles that is partly related to the geographical and human environment of the neighborhood (overpopulation, promiscuity, insalubrity, approximate care)
Appearing abruptly in January, the epidemic affected a large number of patients in 8 months. The proportion of contacts among new cases is severe. The risk of contracting this disease is unpredictable, especially since it is difficult to assess the impact of collective prevention in these neighborhoods.
In the meantime, they said, rigor, regularity, monitoring and integration of interventions remain essential for the Government and for all other stakeholders in the health sector.
To cope with the viral epidemic, the NGO Médecin sans Frontière has called for a "massive mobilization of funds and actors". The charity reported in a tweet Friday that the measles epidemic in the DRC has killed more people in eight months than the Ebola virus disease has in a year.
"The measles epidemic declared on June 10th is the deadliest that the DRC has known since 2011-2012," the organization writes, adding that "between January and early August 2019, it infected more than 145,000 people and killed 2,750 people ".
(CKS/Yes)