DRC stands by a single vaccine during the Ebola outbreak

Yesterday, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) said that the Ministry of Health and government authorities had agreed that Merck's rVSV-ZEBOV vaccine was the only vaccine that would be used during the current epidemic. Ebola, which kept growing, in the provinces of North Kivu and Ituri.

"Due to the lack of sufficient scientific evidence on the efficacy and safety of other vaccines as well as the risk of confusion in the population, it was decided that no clinical trials of vaccines would be allowed throughout the country. country, "said the ministry in its daily updated yesterday.

Yesterday, 158,830 people were vaccinated with the yellow fever virus (ZSRV), which, according to clinical data, has an effectiveness rate of 97.5% against the virus.

The vaccine was administered according to a ring vaccination strategy, which follows case contacts in concentric circles. The ring strategy was used for the first time during the 2014-2016 West Africa outbreak.

Yesterday, the ministry said that since June 13, health workers have followed a new vaccine protocol that can be adapted to different safety concerns and environments depending on the situation.

The protocol includes a "clbadic" ring, as well as an "enlarged" ring, which aims to vaccinate all inhabitants of homes located within 5 meters around the outbreak of a confirmed case. In places where team safety can not be guaranteed, the workers used a "geographic" ring that can vaccinate a village or entire neighborhood.

The DRC is expected to confirm 11 new cases of Ebola today, bringing the total number of outbreaks to 2,462, according to a World Health Organization (WHO) scoreboard. Yesterday, as it confirmed 14 new cases and 2 new deaths, the ministry reported 1,647 deaths and reported that 364 suspected cases are still under investigation.

UN chief on community monitoring and engagement

United Nations Ebola coordinator David Gressly, MBA, gave a lengthy interview to the New Humanitarianthis week, during which he identified the biggest challenges in the response to the outbreak.

"There are areas where surveillance is weak, mainly because of insecurity, so the virus sometimes enters a relatively undetected locality." For the moment, we are pursuing it when it moves away from home. One place to the next.It is important to take a more structured approach that examines the factors that prevent public health from intervening, "Gressly said.

In addition to surveillance, community involvement – or the absence of it – remains a constant feature of this outbreak.

"As we strengthen our engagement with communities, including listening to their needs beyond Ebola and finding ways to meet them, we find some reluctance to ease of response," he said. he declared. "It will take time in some areas that have always been suspicious of foreigners, we are progressing, but we need to do more, and the virus will find ways to keep replicating if all the holes are not plugged. "

Gressly said the UN was using various strategies to ensure security during the outbreak, ranging from community policing to direct lines to armed vehicles.

See also:

July 11 DRC report

WHO Ebola Dashboard

July 11 New humanitarian article

15 April CIDRAP News "Ebola cases climb by 44% while vaccine trial is highly effective"