Clinical features and prognosis of children with Ebola virus disease in Sierra Leone

Objective To investigate the clinical characteristics and prognosis of children infected with Ebola virus. Methods Clinical features and prognosis of children with suspected or confirmed Ebola virus disease (EVD) in Jui hospital Free Town, Sierra Leone from October 2014 to January 2015 were retrospectively analyzed. Results Of the 653 patients who presented with EVD symptoms, 75 children had laboratory-confirmed EVD with mean age of 8.9±5.6 years (range from 11 months to 18 years). There were 29 males (38.7%) and 46 females (61.3%). Forty-nine patients were followed up, with 41 cases of detailed data. Close contact with family member was the main route of Ebola transmission, accounting for 45.3%. The mean incubation period was 10.5 d, the symptom onset to hospitalization time was 3.5 d, and the average time of symptom onset to death was 7 d. The most common symptoms were fever in 32 cases (80.5%), followed by fatigue in 31 cases (75.6%), diarrhea in 30 cases (73.2%), muscle pain in 30 cases (73.2%), nausea and vomiting in 29 cases (70.7%). Fifteen children died in 49 followed up cases with the mortality rate of 30.6%. Conclusion Close contact with family member is a main route of Ebola transmission for children. It has no obvious specific clinical features. The incidence rate of female is higher than that of male, however, there is no significant difference between male and female in mortality rate.