Via MSF USA: Fighting Measles in DRC “Like Trying to Put out a Forest Fire Blindfolded”. Excerpt:
A deadly measles epidemic continues to spread through Katanga province, in southern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), with devastating effects on the very young. For the past two months, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) doctor Marion Osterberger has been working in Ankoro hospital, which has become so overcrowded with patients that up to five children have had to share each bed.
Here, she describes the situation.
I left the resuscitation room in tears—in front of patients, mothers, and my colleagues. Sitting on the steps of the old colonial building, I just broke down. As a doctor, it's hard to explain why certain patients affect you so much.
Little Annie had just died in my arms, despite all of our efforts to save her. Annie was four years old and, when she was admitted to hospital, I was immediately struck by her bad mood and the constant pout on her face. Annie had developed almost all of the possible complications of measles—including malaria and malnutrition—and nothing we did brought her fever down. Nothing could save her, despite all the care we gave her and despite the watchful presence of her father, day and night, at her bedside.
Only 80 Beds for 189 Patients
At that time, the hospital was full to bursting. With 198 patients but only 80 beds, all of the departments were completely overwhelmed. The specialist measles intensive care unit was the worst, with up to five children in each bed. The teams there work relentlessly, in suffocating heat and at a frantic pace, day and night, seven days a week.
In Europe, measles is considered a minor illness, but people forget that it's still one of the main causes of child deaths worldwide. It's a highly contagious infection, and its effects can be very serious, especially in children who are already weakened by other diseases, such as malaria or malnutrition.
Here in DRC, it's quite common for children under five—which includes almost all of our patients at the moment—to develop complications such as severe diarrhea, ear infections, pneumonia, eye infections, or even encephalitis [inflammation of the brain], which can be fatal.
