Here are five things for pediatricians to know about the transmission, manifestation and care of Ebola in children, presented in JAMA Pediatrics.
1. Approximately 18 percent of reported Ebola cases in Guinea were children, and 13.8 percent of cases from four affected countries were in children younger than 15 years old.
2. Ebola symptoms in children may be difficult to distinguish from other common pediatric infectious diseases, such as fever, headache, muscle pain, abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea and weakness. “This highlights the key issue of eliciting a history of exposure to Zaire ebolavirus,including a travel history and especially any recent direct contact with the blood or bodily fluids of a person who was sick or died from suspected or confirmed Zaire ebolavirus infection,” reads the report.
3. A previous Ebola outbreak in Uganda recorded all children with laboratory-confirmed Ebola exhibited febrile symptoms. Also common were respiratory and gastrointestinal symptoms. Just 16 percent had hemorrhage, further highlighting the need for documenting travel and exposure history.
4. The fatality proportion in the current outbreak for children younger than 15 years is 73.4 percent, though children younger than 5 have previously been reported to be at an increased risk for illness and death.
5. However, data from previous outbreaks and the current epidemic suggest children are at a lower risk for Ebola than adults. “Healthcare professionals should also consider other common infectious diseases prevalent in West Africa when evaluating ill children from this region while maintaining a high level of suspicion for Ebola,” the report says.
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