Ebola virus disease and children: what pediatric health care professionals need to know.

The largestoutbreakofEbolavirusdisease (EVD) inhistory is occurring inWest Africa. On August 8, 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared this outbreak to be a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.1 As of October 8, 2014, 8399 EVD cases (including 416 in health care personnel)with 4033 deaths were reported, although reportedcases are likely a substantialunderestimateof theoutbreakmagnitude.2Most EVD cases have been reported in Guinea, Liberia, and SierraLeone,with fewercases inNigeriaandasinglecase in Senegal. Although the suspected index case for this outbreak is believed tobea2-year-old childwhodied in Guinea in December 2013, limited information is available on the impact of this outbreak on children.3 Cases of EVDwere also identified in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but analyses of viruses suggest that the DemocraticRepublicof theCongooutbreak isnot linked to the wider epidemic. As of October 15, 2014, 3 EVD cases, including2health carepersonnel, hadbeen identified in the United States and 5 EVD cases, including 4 healthcarepersonnel,were identified inWestAfricaand medicallyevacuatedtotheUnitedStates for furthercare. This situation is rapidly evolving, and new information willbepostedtotheCenters forDiseaseControlandPrevention (CDC) (http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/index .html) and WHO (http://www.who.int/mediacentre /factsheets/fs103/en/)websitesas itbecomesavailable. Our report is intended to complement information on theCDCwebpages,witha focusonwhatpediatrichealth care professionals need to know.