At least 52 children, including 16 toddlers and infants,
have contracted Ebola in the month since the Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC) declared its latest outbreak, with
19 of these children confirmed to have died.
The
outbreak declared on 15 May has rapidly become the third
largest ever recorded in the DRC, with
some 782 confirmed cases and 181 confirmed deaths,
according to latest figures from the Ministry of Health, and
children are among the most vulnerable, said Save the
Children.
While young children represent a smaller
portion of cases than other age groups, figures from the
Africa Centre for Disease Control (CDC) show that young
children are suffering a far higher case fatality rate.
Children aged 14 or under are more than twice as likely to
die after contracting the illness than patients aged 15 to
44, according to a Save the Children analysis of the figures
[1].
Young children often deteriorate rapidly when
infected and require early identification, referral, and
intensive supportive care to improve their chances of
survival. These risks are further compounded by the
conditions many children already face in humanitarian
settings, including malnutrition, malaria, anaemia, poverty,
displacement, interrupted vaccination and healthcare
services, and limited access to essential treatment and
nutrition support.
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Children are not only at risk of
infection, but a multitude of knock-on effects, including
family separation, psychological distress, being cut off
from routine healthcare and protection services, dropping
out of school, child labour and early marriage, said Save
the Children.
Basic, lifesaving supplies -like
protective equipment, disinfectant, safe isolation spaces
and essential medicines – are concerningly scarce in some
areas. At the same time fear and misinformation risk
accelerating transmission by discouraging families from
seeking care, cooperating with contact tracing, or reporting
symptoms early.
Greg Ramm, Save the Children’s
Country Director in the DRC, said:
“This outbreak is
more than a health emergency, it is a wider social crisis
with significant consequences for children, caregivers and
communities. Not only have many families lost their loved
ones, but many others are caring for sick relatives while
trying to protect themselves and their
children.
“Health workers are responding stoically
under some incredibly challenging conditions – we are seeing
incredible bravery, resilience and determination. Yet fear,
rumours, and misinformation are delaying people from seeking
care, slowing down contact tracing, and putting safe burials
at risk. Getting accurate, child-friendly information into
communities isn’t optional-it’s critical – and our teams
are working around the clock to reach as many people as
possible.
“There are real risks here that the
consequences for children and families will go far beyond
the disease itself. We’ve seen it before: children leave
school and never return, and those who lose parents or
caregivers become far more vulnerable to early marriage,
child labor, and exploitation.
“But let me be clear –
this outbreak, the 17 th in DRC since 1976, is happening on
top of an already devastating crisis in eastern DRC.
Families were already dealing with conflict, displacement,
and extremely fragile health systems. For many, this
outbreak is hitting when they have almost nothing left to
fall back on.
“This outbreak can still be
contained-but only if the response is immediate,
large-scale, and coordinated. Children at the heart of the
Ebola crisis and need to be at the heart of the response.
This means beyond disease prevention and control, the
response must include ensuring continuity of essential
health, nutrition, and water and nutrition services to
prevent an escalation in child mortality driven by the
indirect impacts of the crisis.”
In this latest
outbreak, along with its medical and nutrition support, Save
the Children is stepping up active case finding and contact
tracing in communities and clinics, which includes training
community health workers and teachers to identify and refer
community alert cases, alongside distributing emergency
hygiene kits and thermometers.
The current Ebola
outbreak is also taking place within a wider humanitarian
crisis in the DRC, with some 15 million people – almost
one in every seven people – in need of humanitarian
assistance.
In the DRC since 1994, Save the Children
partners with 13 local organisations, as well as
international agencies and government authorities, to
deliver life-saving support in health, nutrition, education,
child protection, food security, and water, sanitation, and
hygiene for children and their
families.
NOTES:
[1] From the
Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Bundibugyo Virus Disease Outbreak Issue No. 22, 9 June,
which refers to a sample size of 447 confirmed cases (973.5%
of the total 608 confirmed cases recorded on the day). In
the report, children aged 0-4 were reported in 16 cases and
7 deaths (average case fatality rate (CFR) 43.8%); Children
aged 5 – 14 were reported in 36 cases and 12 deaths (CFR
33.3%); children and adults aged 15 – 44 reported in 278
cases and 51 deaths (CFR 18.3%) and adults 45+ reported in
117 cases and 21 deaths (CFR 17.9%).
Save the
Children’s analysis found that the average case fatality
rate (CFR) among children aged 0-14 years was 38.6%,
compared with 18.1% among individuals aged 15 years and
older. Based on the age-disaggregated data currently
available, children under 15 were more than twice as likely
to die following Ebola infection than older adolescents and
adults.
However, these findings should be interpreted
with caution. Complete age-disaggregated data are not yet
available for all reported cases and deaths, and more than
200 suspected deaths remain under investigation. As a
result, the final age-specific mortality rates may change as
additional epidemiological and laboratory data become
available.
