Ebola kills 8 children as infections rise in schools
Health workers at the Entebbe Regional Referral Hospital Ebola isolation centre last month. Part of the US funds will go towards managing Ebola cases. PHOTO/ISAAC KASAMANI
What you need to know:
- Addressing journalists at the Uganda Media Centre yesterday, the State Minister of Primary Education, Ms Joyce Kaducu, said a total of 23 Ebola cases have since been confirmed, of which, eight died, five fully recovered while 16 are still under isolation.
The Ministry of Education and Sports has revealed that eight children across the country have succumbed to the Ebola disease.
Addressing journalists at the Uganda Media Centre yesterday, the State Minister of Primary Education, Ms Joyce Kaducu, said a total of 23 Ebola cases have since been confirmed, of which, eight died, five fully recovered while 16 are still under isolation.
Of these cases, 11 are children from five schools in Kampala, Wakiso and Mubende, with one Primary Six learner who succumbed to the disease last month.
Ms Kaducu said one child in baby class was in stable condition and recovered, while three children in Primary Two, Primary Four and Primary Seven are in stable condition and recovering.
In Mubende District, one child, a Primary Five learner recovered and was discharged, while a Primary Four pupil is still hospitalised.
The whereabouts of the five school -going children were not mentioned, but sources said they are still battling with the virus.
“We have been notified by health experts that children are at a higher risk of death than the adults when they get infected with this virus. We should be very careful as far as protecting these children is concerned,” Ms Kaducu said.
On October 26, the Ministry of Health confirmed six cases of Ebola who attended classes at three different schools in Rubaga Division, Kampala.
This means that the numbers have increased from six to 11 learners diagnosed with the disease and from three schools to five.
The number of districts have also increased from one to three.
According to the figures that were released yesterday by the Ministry of Health, a total of 136 cumulative cases have been confirmed, with 53 deaths.
Also, 62 recoveries have been reported while 19 active cases are on admission. A total of 2,187 contacts have been listed for follow-up by the Ministry of Health while 1,824 have completed 21 follow up days.
As a result, the ministries of Education and Health have come up with measures to curb Ebola in schools.
These include evacuating and admitting all cases confirmed in different health facilities upon detection, cordoned off affected schools, restricted entry and continued tracing of all contacts of children and teachers in high-risk areas.
Ms Kaducu said the schools are also required to decontaminate all classes and sanitary facilities that host Ebola-positive children.
