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ArticlePLoS neglected tropical diseases2026

Paediatric mpox during Sierra Leone's 2024 to 2025 clade IIb outbreak: A national surveillance and outbreak-investigation study of 415 children.

Eric Nzirakaindi Ikoona, Lucy Namulemo, Mary Magdalene Sinnah, Mohamed Alex Vandi, Foday Sahr

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Article in PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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5 authors.

Eric Nzirakaindi IkoonaNational Public Health Agency (NPHA), Freetown, Sierra Leone.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3402-1961
Lucy NamulemoSchool of Professional Counseling, Lindsey Wilson University, Columbia, Kentucky, United States of America.
Mary Magdalene SinnahNational Public Health Agency (NPHA), Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Mohamed Alex VandiNational Public Health Agency (NPHA), Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Foday SahrNational Public Health Agency (NPHA), Freetown, Sierra Leone.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundEvidence on paediatric mpox during contemporary African clade IIb outbreaks remains limited. We described paediatric cases in Sierra Leone's 2024-2025 clade IIb G.1 outbreak by person, time, and place and examined clinical care, outcomes, vaccination records, and documented exposures. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL

findingsWe conducted a retrospective descriptive study using the national District Health Information Software 2 (DHIS2) mpox database, supplemented by patient charts and outbreak-investigation forms. Among 5,466 cases with recorded age, 415 (7.6%) were children younger than 15 years; 188 (45.3%) were aged 0-4 years, 121 (29.2%) were aged 5-9 years, and 106 (25.5%) were aged 10-14 years. Of 415 paediatric cases, 411 (99.0%) were laboratory-confirmed. Outcome was recorded for 261 children (62.9%); three died (1.1%, exact 95% CI 0.2 to 3.3). Care location was recorded for 285 children; 216 (75.8%) received hospital care for isolation, clinical management, or both. Three sporadic paediatric cases of mpox-like illness were reported from 2017 through 2024; notifications then rose rapidly from April 2025 and peaked in May. Western Area Urban accounted for 195/413 cases with known district (47.2%); crude notified paediatric rates were highest in Western Area Urban, Koinadugu, and Falaba. Household or caregiving contact was the most common documented exposure among 246 classifiable investigation forms (141, 57.3%). Mpox vaccination status was recorded for 27/54 cases aged 12-14 years; six were vaccinated. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Children were not spared during Sierra Leone's clade IIb outbreak. Response plans should include children in case finding, contact follow-up, clinical care, and vaccination assessment. DHIS2 should capture epidemiological links, clinical outcomes, vaccine eligibility and status, and potential exposure settings through standardised fields.

Indexed as

Disease OutbreaksHemorrhagic Fever, EbolaAdolescentChildChild, PreschoolFemaleHumansInfantInfant, NewbornMaleRetrospective StudiesSierra LeoneVaccination

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.