According to WHO, children under five die at a higher rate of Ebola outbreak in Congo | Life

GENEVA, May 31 – 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. announced yesterday the World Health Organization (WHO).

Three in four, or 77%, are succumbing to the disease, compared to 57% for the older and 67% for all infected people, the UN agency said. in a new badysis of the epidemic – the second worst in the world recorded.

Many children under five are not being taken to Ebola treatment centers, where survival rates are significantly higher, but are traveling to many health facilities that are less well equipped to provide treatment or treatment. Isolation, said the WHO 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 fears and misunderstanding of ETCs and to remove any other barriers to access, with a particular focus on this age group," he said. -he declares.

The under-fives account for 15% of the 1,945 cases reported since the beginning of the epidemic last August, accounting for 300 of the 1,000 reported cases, WHO said. In all, 1,302 people died.

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

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