The world's worst epidemic

Brut America

While the world focuses on the coronavirus outbreak, dozens of children are dying every day in the Democratic Republic of Congo from the world's worst epidemic: measles.

Transcript

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00:29The two children were hospitalized in two health centers.

00:46The prison was not available.

00:48They were admitted here on December 19.

00:52Unfortunately, we lost one, but she was able to be saved.

00:58No!

01:28It was about 1200 or 1500.

01:31I don't know the original number.

01:33We are not sure.

01:35We will let you know when you have done the research.

01:39The National Ensemble did some research.

01:43And we hope that you did too.

01:45We are here to detect complications.

01:52On one hand, we treat and prevent these complications immediately, and on the other hand, we are

01:59here to help them.

02:02We are here to help them.

02:05We are here to help them.

02:08We are here to help them.

02:12On one hand, we treat and prevent these complications immediately, and on the other hand, we are

02:17isolating patients here to break epithelial curve.

02:25My son is not indifferent for game that provoke medical attention.

02:41$27.5 million have been mobilized for this campaign, however, another estimate, others

03:04estimated $4.8 million are needed to complete it and strengthen disease surveillance and

03:11case management and communications.

03:13Measles is a largely childhood disease that is potentially fatal.

03:17It's a serious disease that causes fever, rash, can cause brain swelling and other complications

03:23and children can die from this.

03:25Measles is one of the most contagious and infectious diseases that we have.

03:30For every case of measles that occurs in a group of people who are not protected, about

03:3612 to 18 more cases are going to happen.

03:39That means that this is a germ that spreads really quickly and really effectively among

03:45people who aren't protected.

03:47We don't have a treatment for measles.

03:49If you get measles, there's no drug that you can take, there's no treatment that you can

03:54have specifically against the virus.

03:57Our best strategy is to protect you against getting measles in the first place and that

04:01means getting vaccinated.

04:03It's extremely important that people understand that measles vaccine, like all the vaccines

04:08that we have, undergo rigorous, ongoing scientific safety evaluations.

04:14And over and over again, dozens of studies have demonstrated that measles vaccine is

04:20safe and effective.

04:22So what each of us as individuals can do, first of all, if you are the parent of a child,

04:27you should assure through looking at the documents that you have that your child has been vaccinated

04:33against measles.

04:34If your child hasn't been vaccinated against measles, talk to a trusted provider, a health

04:38care provider, and get your child vaccinated.

04:42If you don't have a child, but you're a grandparent or you're an aunt or an uncle, you can have

04:46those same conversations in your families and in your community.

04:50And if you're a person who actually works in a health unit or works in a government,

04:55you can be sure that you're doing your job to make sure that measles vaccine is getting

04:59to all of the kids and all of the community members who need it.

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