Article Sidebar
Article Details
Issue
Section
Articles
A. AFRICAN HEALTH SCIENCES OPEN ACCESS POLICY
While African Health Sciences has been freely accessible online there have been questions on whether it is Open Access or not. We wish to clearly state that indeed African Health Sciences is Open Access. There are key issues regarding Open Access needing clarification for avoidance of doubt:
- 1. Henceforth, papers in African Health Sciences will be published under the CC BY (Creative Commons Attribution License) 4.0 International. See details on https://creativecomons.org/)
- 2. The copyright owners or the authors grant the 3rd party (perpetually and in advance) the right to disseminate, reproduce, or use the research papers in part or in full, format/medium as long as:
- No substantive errors are introduced in the process
- Attribution of authorship and correct citation details are given
- The referencing details are not changed.
Should the papers be reproduced in part, this must be clearly stated.
- 3. The papers will be freely and universally accessible online in an easily readable format such as XML in at least one widely recognized open access repository such as PUBMED CENTRAL.
B. ABRIDGED LICENCE AGREEMENT BETWEEN AUTHORS AND African Health Sciences
I submitted my manuscript to African Health Sciences and would like to affirm that:
1.0 I am authorized by my co-authors to enter into these arrangements.
2.0 I guarantee, on behalf of self and co-authors:
- That the paper is original, and has not been published in any other peer-reviewed journal; nor is it under consideration by other journal (s). It does not infringe existing copyright or any other person’s rights
- That we are/I am the sole author(s) of the paper and with authority to enter into this agreement. My granting rights to African Health Sciences is not in breach of any other obligation
- That the paper contains nothing unlawful, or libelous. Nor anything that would constitute a breach of contract, confidence or commitment given to secrecy, if published
- That I/we have taken care to ensure the integrity of the article.
3.0 I and all co-authors, agree that the paper, if accepted for publication, shall be licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0. (see https://creativecommons.org/)
Main Article Content
Ebola haemorrhagic fever among hospitalised children and adolescents in nothern Uganda : Epidemiologic and clinical observations
Abstract
Background : A unique feature of previous Ebola outbreaks has been the relative sparing of children. For the first time, an out break of an unusual illness-Ebola haemorrhagic fever occurred in Northern Uganda - Gulu district.
Objectives : To describe the epidemiologic and clinical aspects of hospitalised children and adolescents on the isolation wards.
Methods : A retrospective descriptive survey of hospital records for hospitalised children and adolescents under 18 years on the isolation wards in Gulu, Northern Uganda was conducted. All patient test notes were consecutively reviewed and non was excluded because being deficient.
Results : Analysis revealed that 90 out of the 218 national laboratory confirmed Ebola cases were children and adolescents with a case fatality of 40%. The mean age was 8.2 years ± SD 5.6 with a range of 16.99 years. The youngest child on the isolation wards was 3 days old. The under fives contributed the highest admission (35%) among children and adolescents; and case fatality because of prolonged close contact with the seropositive relatives among the laboratory confirmed cases. All (100%) Ebola positive children and adolescents were febrile while only 16% had haemorragic manifestations.
Conclusion : Similar to previous Ebola outbreaks, a relative sparing of children in this outbreak was observed. The under fives were at an increased risk of contact with the sick and dying.
Recommendations : Strategies to shield children from exposure to dying and sick Ebola relatives are recommended in the event of future Ebola outbreaks. Health education to children and adolescents to avoid contact with sick and their body fluids should be emphasized.
African Health Sciences 2001; 1(2): 60-65
Objectives : To describe the epidemiologic and clinical aspects of hospitalised children and adolescents on the isolation wards.
Methods : A retrospective descriptive survey of hospital records for hospitalised children and adolescents under 18 years on the isolation wards in Gulu, Northern Uganda was conducted. All patient test notes were consecutively reviewed and non was excluded because being deficient.
Results : Analysis revealed that 90 out of the 218 national laboratory confirmed Ebola cases were children and adolescents with a case fatality of 40%. The mean age was 8.2 years ± SD 5.6 with a range of 16.99 years. The youngest child on the isolation wards was 3 days old. The under fives contributed the highest admission (35%) among children and adolescents; and case fatality because of prolonged close contact with the seropositive relatives among the laboratory confirmed cases. All (100%) Ebola positive children and adolescents were febrile while only 16% had haemorragic manifestations.
Conclusion : Similar to previous Ebola outbreaks, a relative sparing of children in this outbreak was observed. The under fives were at an increased risk of contact with the sick and dying.
Recommendations : Strategies to shield children from exposure to dying and sick Ebola relatives are recommended in the event of future Ebola outbreaks. Health education to children and adolescents to avoid contact with sick and their body fluids should be emphasized.
African Health Sciences 2001; 1(2): 60-65
