This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
What pediatricians should know about Ebola
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
As the possibility of Ebola in the United States becomes reality, pediatricians should take the same precautions as health care workers who treat adults, even though children and adolescents account for a small number of Ebola cases overall, according to researchers from the CDC.
During an outbreak of ebolavirus in Zaire in 1995, where more than half of the population was aged younger than 18 years, 9% of 315 patients with Ebola were children, according to an editorial recently published in JAMA Pediatrics.
Eighteen percent, or 147 of 823, of reported Ebola cases in the current outbreak in Guinea were children, and 13.8% of Ebola cases from four affected countries were aged younger than 15 years.
The low number of pediatric Ebola cases may be due to cultural practices in which children are kept away from sick relatives, according to Georgina Peacock, MD, MPH, of the CDC, and colleagues.
It may be challenging for pediatricians to distinguish Ebola symptoms from symptoms of common pediatric infectious diseases. Typically, children may present with symptoms of Ebola similar to those in adults, including fever, headache, myalgia, abdominal pain and weakness, followed by vomiting, diarrhea and unexplained bleeding or bruising a few days after initial symptoms. However, data are limited, according to researchers. Travel history and/or recent, direct contact with someone who was suspected to have Ebola is essential and can help distinguish between common infectious diseases and Ebola.
If a child has signs and symptoms of Ebola and a history of travel from an affected country within the past 21 days, pediatricians should be highly suspicious. If a child is suspected to have Ebola, standard, droplet and contact infection-control precautions should be implemented, and the state health department should be notified immediately.
Overall case-fatality in the current outbreak is approximately 70.8%, including 73.4% in children aged younger than 15 years, 66.1% among those aged 15 to 44 years and 80.4% among adults aged older than 44 years.
“Health care professionals, including those who care for children, should be familiar with the clinical features of Ebola virus and should inquire about recent travel to affected West African countries when assessing patients with compatible illness,” the researchers wrote. “Prompt implementation of recommended infection-control measures and appropriate reporting to state health departments are essential to prevent future transmission.”
For more information:
Visit http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/hcp/case-definition.html for information on high and low-risk exposures and case definitions for the United States.
Visit http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/pdf/ebola-algorithm.pdf to view the CDC algorithm for evaluating travelers returning from endemic areas.
For CDC guidance on processing laboratory specimens visit http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/pdf/ebola-lab-guidance.pdf.
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts