• 3 days ago
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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