The lead author of the DRC study is Jean-Jacques Muyembe, PhD. Director, Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale (INRB), and co-discoverer of the Ebola virus. Muyembe discussed the study with Contagion, remarking on the many challenges that were encountered in the DRC campaign against EVD, including the vaccine hesitancy that confounds public health efforts across the globe.
“Vaccine hesitancy was a challenge due to misinformation, fear of outside agendas, and cultural barriers,” Muyembe said.”To address this, we worked with local healthcare workers, community leaders, and trusted influencers to explain the vaccine’s safety and importance.Their involvement helped ensure the message resonated with communities.”
Control measures were implemented by teams charged with four key tasks, Muyembe explained:
- Defining the ring—listing contacts and contacts-of-contacts from the case data provided by the DRC Ministry of Health and the WHO surveillance teams
- Obtaining informed consent—ensuring vaccine recipients understood and agreed to vaccination
- Vaccine administration—delivering the vaccine
- Safety follow-up—Monitoring vaccines post-vaccination
“All team members were trained in good clinical practices, the study protocol, and the standard operating procedures for ring vaccination,” Muyembe said.”Surveillance teams focused on identifying cases and tracing contacts, often with support from community members.Laboratory teams tested suspected cases to confirm or rule out Ebola.
“In areas with security concerns, military or UN peacekeepers provided protection for vaccination teams, but did not engage with the communities directly, preserving trust in the health workers,” Muyembe noted.
With the study confirming the importance of prompt ring vaccination, Muyembe described the efforts to hasten recognition and reporting of an Ebola infection.”Early detection is critical for the success of the ring vaccination strategy and the outbreak response as a whole,” he declared.
“We accelerated case recognition through public health campaigns that educated communities on Ebola symptoms and encouraged timely reporting.Community health workers played a vital role by linking suspected cases to response teams using hotlines and other communication tools.These efforts reduced delays in identifying and isolating cases,” Muyembe recounted.
