Ebola Death Rates Vary Widely by Age Group

LIVE SCIENCE       by Agata Blaszczak Boxe                                               March 25, 2015

Young children who are infected with Ebola may be more likely to die from the virus than older children or adults who are infected, according to a new study.

The disease has killed about 90 percent of infected children under age 1, and about 80 percent of kids ages 1 to 4 who have been infected. Older children who have been infected with Ebola may have a much better chance of surviving....

"The very youngest of children — neonates  —appear to have the worst outcomes from Ebola," study co-author Dr. Robert Fowler, an associate professor of critical-care medicine at the University of Toronto, said in a statement. (Neonates, or newborns, are babies younger than 1 month.)

There are a number of factors that may explain the high Ebola mortality rate in newborns, Fowler said. For instance, the youngest children are often heavily dependent on others to care for them, and their caregivers may have also been sick with Ebola. Younger kids may also be particularly prone to dehydration and metabolic abnormalities that result from vomiting and diarrhea, which are common symptoms of the disease.

Read complete story.
http://news.yahoo.com/ebola-death-rates-vary-widely-age-group-223154533.html;_ylt=AwrBEiQTXxNVIToAXP_QtDMD