for the African Forum for Research and Education in Health (AFREhealth) COVID-19 Research Collaboration on Children and Adolescents IMPORTANCE Little is known about COVID-19 outcomes among children and adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa, where preexisting comorbidities are prevalent. OBJECTIVE To assess the clinical outcomes and factors associated with outcomes among children and adolescents hospitalized with COVID-19 in 6 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This cohort study was a retrospective record review of data from 25 hospitals in the
Globally, there are prevailing knowledge gaps in the epidemiology, clinical manifestations, and outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 infection among children and adolescents; however, these gaps are especially wide in African countries. The availability of robust age-disaggregated data is a critical first step in improving knowledge on disease burden and manifestations of COVID-19 among children. Furthermore, it is essential to improve understanding of SARS-CoV-2 interactions with comorbidities and co-infections such as HIV, tuberculosis, malaria, sickle cell disease and malnutrition, which are highly prevalent among children in sub-Saharan Africa. The African Forum for Research and Education in Health (AFREhealth) COVID-19 Research Collaboration on Children and Adolescents is conducting studies across Western, Central, Eastern, and Southern Africa to address existing knowledge gaps. This consortium is expected to generate key evidence to inform clinical practice and public health policymaking for COVID-19, while concurrently addressing other major diseases affecting children in African countries.
ObjectivesNeonatal sepsis, a condition defined as bacteremia within the first month of life accompanied by signs of systemic infection, is the most preventable cause of infant mortality in sub-Saharan Africa. Despite the development of new infection markers, C-reactive protein (CRP) is the most extensively studied acute phase reactant so far and the preferred index in many neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). The aim of the present study was to evaluate an affordable, non-commercial turbidimetric CRP assay for monitoring early-onset neonatal sepsis (EOS).MethodsA total of 148 neonates admitted at the NICU of the Hôpital Provincial Général de Référence de Bukavu to diagnose and to monitor EOS were enrolled in the study. CRP was assayed using a functional turbidimetric assay based on the interaction of CRP with phosphocholine containing particles (Intralipid®).ResultsIn total, 62/148 (41.9%) cases were identified as blood culture-proven EOS. Different serum CRP slopes were observed among the different birth weight categories. Moreover, the serum (CRP 48 h–CRP 12 h) difference and the birth weight predicted the outcome of these septic newborns.ConclusionsOur turbidimetric CRP assay is a potential novel tool that can be used in the management of EOS in sub-Saharan Africa. The simplicity of the assay and the extremely low price make the CRP method very well suited for developing countries.
COVID-19 started as a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan City, the Province of Hubei, China, in December 2019. It spread to many regions of China, outside of China and was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11th, 2020. Initially Africa had no case and now the continent is reporting an increasing number of confirmed cases in an exponential manner (1,2).
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