Mortality rate among children under five years is higher in the Ebola outbreak in Congo

By Stephanie Nebehay

GENEVA (Reuters) – Ebola-infected children under the age of five in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo are dying faster than other patients, their parents avoiding special treatment centers, said Thursday. World Health Organization (WHO).

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 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 hemorrhagic fever, he added.

"All cases that are not sufficiently isolated, including children under five, can pose a significant risk of transmission for health care workers, patients and community members," he said. 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 much to be done to reduce the fear and misunderstanding of ETCs and to eliminate any other barriers to access, with particular emphasis on this age group," he said. -he declares.

Those under five represent 15%, or 300 of the 1,945 cases reported since the beginning of the epidemic last August, WHO said. In all, 1,302 people died.

The epidemic in Congo has made an unusually high number of victims. 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.

(Reportage by Stephanie Nebehay)