Ebola in DR Congo: Childhood deaths rise; hopes raised over new vaccine

More than 300 children have died in the Ebola outbreak in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the UN said on Friday, as health experts urged trials of the only vaccine against the disease to halt further spread of the rare Bundibugyo species.Children and women continue to bear a disproportionate share of the outbreak in Ituri, the most affected province, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).The health crisis is unfolding in a province where nearly one million people have been displaced by conflict, with women and children accounting for around 80 per cent. Young lives lostThe outbreak emerged in mid-May and since then, more than 300 children have succumbed to the virus, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said.Moreover, children make up nearly a quarter of confirmed cases, but almost a third of all deaths, the agency added.Earlier this week, the UN reported that the outbreak is also severely disrupting essential healthcare.“In the hardest-hit areas, use of health services has dropped by more than 40 percent in recent months, as fear of infection keeps people away,” UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq told journalists in New York.P...