Mortality rate among children under five years is higher in the Ebola epidemic in Congo – WHO

By Stephanie Nebehay

GENEVA (Reuters) – Children under five infected with Ebola in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo are dying at a higher rate than other patients, their parents avoiding special treatment centers. 39; World Health Organization (WHO) (WHO) said Thursday.

Three out of four, or 77%, succumb to the disease, compared to 57% among older people and 67% among all infected people, said the UN body in a new badysis of the disease. epidemic – the world's second worst on the record.

Many under the age of five are not taken to Ebola treatment centers, known as ETCs, where survival rates are significantly higher, but instead visit more health-care facilities less equipped to provide treatment or isolation, WHO said in a weekly update.

This "may be due to the fear of being away from home and without the support of family members," but could help spread the virus, a form of haemorrhagic fever, he said.

"All cases that can not be adequately isolated, including children under the age of five, can pose a significant risk of transmission for health care workers, patients, and community members," she said. he declared.

Children under five are also less likely than older youth to be on contact lists that may be exposed to the disease, requiring surveillance or vaccination, he said, calling for improved traceability and monitoring.

"There is still a lot of work to be done to reduce the fear and misunderstanding of ETCs and reduce other barriers to access, with particular emphasis on this age group, "he said.

The under-fives account for 15%, or 300 of the 1,945 cases reported since the beginning of the epidemic last August, the WHO I said. In all, 1,302 people died.

The cholera epidemic in Congo has caused exceptionally heavy casualties. More than a quarter of confirmed and probable cases identified in early April were children under 15, compared to 18% in the last major epidemic in West Africa in 2013-2016, according to figures compiled by the Geneva base. . WHO.

Mortality rates among the under-fives and the over-fives were consistent with those observed during the epidemic in West Africa, he added.

(Reportage by Stephanie Nebehay)