Ebola
is most deadly among babies, young children, study finds
Send a link to a friend
[March 26, 2015] By
Kate Kelland
LONDON (Reuters) - The Ebola virus causing
a devastating epidemic in West Africa is far more deadly in children
than in adults, killing around 90 percent of babies under one who become
infected, researchers said on Wednesday.
|
A study led by scientists at the World Health Organization (WHO) and
Imperial College London found that, although infection rates are
lower in children than adults, babies and toddlers who get the
disease have a far slimmer chance of survival.
The virus, which causes hemorrhagic fever and induces internal and
external bleeding, profuse vomiting and diarrhea, is killing 90
percent of infants in the current outbreak and around 80 percent of
children aged between one to four years, the scientists found.
Older children are much more likely to survive the disease - it has
killed 52 percent of those infected aged 10 to 15.
"These findings show that Ebola affects young children quite
differently to adults, and it's especially important that we get
them into treatment quickly," said Christl Donnelly, who co-led the
study Imperial's Centre for Outbreak Analysis and Modelling.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/Mar/26/images/ads/current/best_friends_sda_010515.png)
"We also need to look at whether young children are getting
treatment that's appropriate for their age."
The world's worst Ebola epidemic has killed more than 10,200 people
in total in the three most affected countries of Guinea, Liberia and
Sierra Leone since March 2014 when it was first confirmed in the
forest region of Guinea.
As of March 2015, almost 4,000 children under 16 have been affected
by Ebola in the current epidemic.
Donnelly's team, whose work was published in the New England Journal
of Medicine on Wednesday, analyzed data on Ebola cases in children
under 16 in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
[to top of second column] |
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/Mar/26/images/ads/current/Jeff_street_lda_031315.png)
As well as the higher risk of death in younger children, they found
the incubation period - the time between becoming infected and
showing symptoms - was 6.9 days in children under a year, compared
with 9.8 days in children aged 10 to 15.
There were also differences in symptoms, with children more likely
than adults to have a fever when they first see a doctor but less
likely to have difficulty breathing or swallowing, or to have pain
in the abdomen, chest, joints or muscles.
"The very youngest of children - neonates - appear to have the worst
outcomes from Ebola," said Robert Fowler, a co-researcher on the
study from the University of Toronto.
He said the findings about how children suffer more show the need to
"evolve more dedicated and specialized means of caring for them in
an Ebola outbreak".
(Editing by Gareth Jones)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/Mar/26/images/ads/current/LINCOLN_theater_011411.png) |