Children are particularly vulnerable to the Ebola Bundibugo Virus Disease (BVD), and they can easily catch it through touch, especially when a household member falls ill.
Infection can occur through direct contact with the blood or other body fluids of a sick person, particularly when caring for or having close physical contact with them.
Exactly 100 days after the Ebola outbreak was declared on the 17th May in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) there are already over 5,200 cases, and the outbreak is rapidly accelerating.
The outbreak has been particularly difficult to contain as it takes place in conflict-affected areas. Therefore, people are on the move and humanitarian needs are high, due to displacement, and food insecurity, while medical personnel struggle to access affected areas.
It is the largest and deadliest outbreak in DRC to-date and well on its way to becoming the largest Ebola outbreak ever because the outbreak grows faster than the response capacity. There is only a narrow window to bring transmission under control. Investments made now in community-based response, essential services and protection for children will determine whether the outbreak can be contained.
Ebola is more dangerous for children and pregnant women
When young children contract Ebola, they are more at risk than healthy adults, particularly children under the age of 10. Earlier this month, the African CDC shared an estimate that approximately 57% of children under 5 die from the disease, which is much higher than the reported death rate amongst all cases, which is currently estimated by WHO at around 40%.
Children are also more vulnerable to severe disease, and they are disproportionately affected when health, nutrition, education and protection services are disrupted.
Ebola is also an incredibly dangerous disease for pregnant women. From previous Ebola outbreaks, we know that mortality rates of pregnant women go up to 90% and that all pregnant women who survive, have a miscarriage despite support in an Ebola treatment centre.
In addition, more pregnant women are dying during the outbreak, as they avoid hospitals and clinics for check-ups and to give birth due to fear of catching the disease. UNFPA data shows that the maternal deaths have already nearly doubled since the start of the outbreak.
How many children have contracted Ebola?
To date, according to the National Institute of Public Health in the DRC, at least 345 children under 5 have tested positive for the disease. Another 455 children between 5 and 17 have the disease so far. In total, at least 350 children have died. Unfortunately, systematic data about children remains limited.
It is important to note that there are many undiscovered cases, as not everybody is tested for the disease. Most cases are currently occurring in remote communities where they do not reach the health centres. At the same time, the outbreak is still growing rapidly and is likely to infect more children.
Children who are infected require specialised care and rehabilitation, including the right therapeutic foods for their bodies, and Ebola doesn’t just impact children who fall ill. School closures, the absence or loss of caregivers and limited health facilities can all have a direct impact on their daily lives.
Alice* is a 13-year-old student in the DRC who dreams of becoming a doctor. At school, Alice* has learned about Ebola’s serious symptoms and the importance of prevention. Students are taught to wash their hands frequently with clean water and soap, maintain physical distance, and ensure that anyone who becomes ill is taken to hospital quickly to prevent the spread of infection. Her education is under threat from the Ebola outbreak, a disease she understands to be both dangerous and deadly. Save the Children
What can we do to protect children?
- Prevent children from getting sick: the best way to prevent any mortality is to prevent people from getting sick altogether! This is why sufficient funding to respond should translate into additional health services, increase contact tracing, train community health workers and involve communities.
- Collaborate with the community: Communities must be placed at the centre of the response. Experience from previous outbreaks shows that surveillance, contact tracing, referral and safe care are only effective when communities trust and actively participate in response efforts.
- Ensure treatments are safe and adjusted for children too: while there is currently no specific vaccine or treatment available for this Ebola strain, several trials are ongoing to discover new treatments, including treatments to prevent the disease after exposure, and vaccines which can help stop the spread and reduce mortality rates. It is important that medicines are tailored to children and infants, especially as the disease is more dangerous for them.
- Meet the nutritional needs of children: Ensure children continue to receive adequate nutrition. Infants separated from their mothers might require breastmilk substitutes, while young children recovering from illness may need additional nutritional support to prevent malnutrition.
- Invest in water, hygiene and sanitation: To stop the spread, access to clean drinking water to wash hands is critical. Yet this is not accessible for many in the area where the outbreak is active, including at health facilities. Investing in access to clean water can save lives now, and in the future.
- Protect health workers and keep other health services going: it takes a long time to train a health worker, but only a short moment to get infected. During an outbreak, many children actually die due to the absence of other health services. For example, to treat severe diarrhoea or malnutrition. Keeping essential health services safe and going while protecting health workers, can make all the difference.
- Keep education going: Because Ebola can only be transmitted through physical contact with an infected person who is showing symptoms, with the right precautions, schools can be safely kept open. Education should continue wherever possible. Before schools reopen, risk assessments, infection prevention measures, contingency planning and community engagement should be put in place so children can continue learning safely.
Bringing the outbreak under control will depend on a whole-of-society response that places communities at the centre, protects essential services and ensures children remain a priority across health, nutrition, education, WASH and protection efforts.
