Development of a Pediatric Ebola Predictive Score, Sierra Leone1.

We compared children who were positive for Ebola virus disease (EVD) with those who were negative to derive a pediatric EVD predictor (PEP) score. We collected data on all children <13 years of age admitted to 11 Ebola holding units in Sierra Leone during August 2014-March 2015 and performed multivariable logistic regression. Among 1,054 children, 309 (29%) were EVD positive and 697 (66%) EVD negative, with 48 (5%) missing. Contact history, conjunctivitis, and age were the strongest positive predictors for EVD. The PEP score had an area under receiver operating characteristics curve of 0.80. A PEP score of 7/10 was 92% specific and 44% sensitive; 3/10 was 30% specific, 94% sensitive. The PEP score could correctly classify 79%-90% of children and could be used to facilitate triage into risk categories, depending on the sensitivity or specificity required

Ebola vaccination.

We welcome the results from the Ebola ça Suffit (“Ebola that is enough”) trial, emphasising the potential importance of a vaccine in controlling Ebola virus disease. However, parallel development in children and adolescents is scarce. More than 3000 confirmed cases of Ebola virus disease in children younger than 14 years have been reported, including cases documented in the trial, which might have been prevented if these children had been vaccinated