Background Child mortality in Kenya is 41 per 1,000 live births, despite extensive investment in maternal, newborn, and child health interventions. Caregivers’ health-seeking for childhood illness is an important determinant of child survival, and delayed healthcare is associated with high child mortality. We explore determinants of health-seeking decisions for childhood illnesses among caregivers in western […]
Archives: Publication
Publication
Sneathia amnii and Maternal Chorioamnionitis and Stillbirth, Mozambique
We report a case of Sneathia amnii as the causative agent of maternal chorioamnionitis and congenital pneumonia resulting in a late fetal death in Mozambique, with strong supportive postmortem molecular and histopathologic confirmation. This rare, fastidious gram-negative coccobacillus has been reported to infrequently cause abortions, stillbirths, and neonatal infections. […]
Read More… from Sneathia amnii and Maternal Chorioamnionitis and Stillbirth, Mozambique
Extrapolating sparse gold standard cause of death designations to characterize broader catchment areas
Objectives The Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance (CHAMPS) Network is designed to elucidate and track causes of under-5 child mortality and stillbirth in multiple sites in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia using advanced surveillance, laboratory and pathology methods. Expert panels provide an arguable gold standard determination of underlying cause of death (CoD) on a […]
Initial findings from a novel population-based child mortality surveillance approach: a descriptive study
Background Sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia contributed 81% of 5·9 million under-5 deaths and 77% of 2·6 million stillbirths worldwide in 2015. Vital registration and verbal autopsy data are mainstays for the estimation of leading causes of death, but both are non-specific and focus on a single underlying cause. We aimed to provide granular data […]
Mothers’ Perspectives of Complementary Feeding Practices in an Urban Informal Settlement in Kisumu County, Western Kenya
Background In informal settlements, the benefits of urban dwelling are diminished by conditions of poverty that exacerbate child undernutrition. The Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance (CHAMPS) project has identified malnutrition as the leading underlying cause of death in children under 5 in the Manyatta urban informal settlement in Kisumu County, Kenya. Objective This qualitative […]
An approach to determining the most common causes of stillbirth in low and middle-income countries: A commentary
Stillbirth, one of the most common adverse pregnancy outcomes, is especially prevalent in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). Understanding the causes of stillbirth is crucial to developing effective interventions. In this commentary, investigators working across several LMICs discuss the most useful investigations to determine causes of stillbirths in LMICs. Useful data were defined as 1) […]
Child deaths caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae in sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia: a secondary analysis of Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance (CHAMPS)
Background Klebsiella pneumoniae is an important cause of nosocomial and community-acquired pneumonia and sepsis in children, and antibiotic-resistant K pneumoniae is a growing public health threat. We aimed to characterise child mortality associated with this pathogen in seven high-mortality settings. Methods We analysed Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance (CHAMPS) data on the causes of […]
Burden of child mortality from malaria in high endemic areas: results from the CHAMPS Network using minimally invasive tissue sampling
Background Malaria is a leading cause of childhood mortality worldwide. However, accurate estimates of malaria prevalence and causality among patients who die at the country level are lacking due to the limited specificity of diagnostic tools used to attribute etiologies. Accurate estimates are crucial for prioritizing interventions and resources aimed at reducing malaria-related mortality. Methods […]
Prevalence of Food Insecurity amid COVID-19 Lockdowns and Sociodemographic Indicators of Household Vulnerability in Harar and Kersa, Ethiopia
Background The COVID-19 pandemic was associated with widespread social disruptions, as governments implemented lockdowns to quell disease spread. To advance knowledge of consequences for households in resource-limited countries, we examine food insecurity during the pandemic period. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study and used logistic regression to examine factors associated with food insecurity. Data were […]
Prevalence of Antimicrobial Resistance in Klebsiella pneumoniae, Enterobacter cloacae, and Escherichia coli Isolates among Stillbirths and Deceased Under-Five Children in Sierra Leone: Data from the Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance Sites from 2019 to 2022
Klebsiella pneumoniae, Escherichia coli, and Enterobacter cloacae are associated with most nosocomial infections worldwide. Although gaps remain in the knowledge of their susceptibility patterns, these are in antimicrobial stewardship. This study aimed to describe antimicrobial susceptibility profiles of the above organisms isolated from postmortem blood from stillbirths and under-five children enrolled in the Child Health […]