Agenzia Fides

Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) - The increase of measles and polio cases triggered a vaccination health campaign aimed at tens of thousands of children infected in the regions of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In 2011, in the country, there have been at least 128,965 cases of measles, 1,573 deaths due to the disease, 89 cases of polio type 1. The current measles campaign, launched in Kinshasa, is addressed to at least 1.7 million children between 6 and 59 months. The initiative for door to door vaccinations, using mobile medical teams, was carried out from December 19 to 21 in the provinces of Bandundu, Bas-Congo, Kasai Oriental, Katanga, Maniema and South Kivu, where approximately 1.1 million children under 5 years of age were monitored. The polio virus resurfaced in the DRC in 2006, with 13 cases, before reaching the peak in 2010 with 100 cases. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 22/12/2011)