Quique Bassat, Dianna M. Blau, Ikechukwu U. Ogbuanu, Solomon Samura et al.
Importance: The number of deaths of children younger than 5 years has been steadily decreasing worldwide, from more than 17 million annual deaths in the 1970s to an estimated 5.3 million in 2019 (with 2.8 million deaths occurring in those aged 1-59 months [53% of all deaths in children aged <5 years...
Zachary J. Madewell, Cynthia G. Whitney, Sithembiso Velaphi, Portia Mutevedzi et al.
Importance: Although child mortality trends have decreased worldwide, deaths among children younger than 5 years of age remain high and disproportionately circumscribed to sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia. Tailored and innovative approaches are needed to increase access, coverage, and quality of...
Natalie I Mazur, Yvette N. Löwensteyn, Joukje E. Willemsen, Christopher Gill et al.
BACKGROUND: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a leading cause of pediatric death, with >99% of mortality occurring in low- and lower middle-income countries. At least half of RSV-related deaths are estimated to occur in the community, but clinical characteristics of this group of children remain ...
Jennifer R. Verani, Dianna M. Blau, Emily S. Gurley, Victor Akelo et al.
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 setti...
Sana Mahtab, Shabir A. Madhi, Vicky L. Baillie, Toyah Els et al.
Each year, 2.4 million children die within their first month of life. Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance (CHAMPS) established in 7 countries aims to generate accurate data on why such deaths occur and inform prevention strategies. Neonatal deaths that occurred between December 2016 a...
Robert F. Breiman, Dianna M. Blau, Portia Mutevedzi, Victor Akelo et al.
BACKGROUND: The current burden of >5 million deaths yearly is the focus of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) to end preventable deaths of newborns and children under 5 years old by 2030. To accelerate progression toward this goal, data are needed that accurately quantify the leading causes of d...
Dianna M. Blau, Vicky L. Baillie, Toyah Els, Sana Mahtab et al.
BACKGROUND: Lower respiratory tract infections are a leading cause of death in young children, but few studies have collected the specimens needed to define the role of specific causes. The Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance (CHAMPS) platform aims to investigate causes of death in ch...
Sana Mahtab, Dianna M. Blau, Zachary J. Madewell, Ikechukwu U. Ogbuanu et al.
BACKGROUND: The Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance (CHAMPS) Network programme undertakes post-mortem minimally invasive tissue sampling (MITS), together with collection of ante-mortem clinical information, to investigate causes of childhood deaths across multiple countries. We aimed ...
Zachary J. Madewell, Adama Mamby Keita, Priya Gupta, Ashka Mehta et al.
Introduction Malnutrition contributes to 45% of all childhood deaths globally, but these modelled estimates lack direct measurements in countries with high malnutrition and under-5 mortality rates. We investigated malnutrition’s role in infant and child deaths in the Child Health and Mortality Preve...
Lola Madrid, Kartavya J. Vyas, Vijaya Kancherla, Haleluya Leulseged et al.
BACKGROUND: Neural tube defects are common birth defects resulting in severe morbidity and mortality; they can largely be prevented with periconceptional maternal intake of folic acid. Understanding the occurrence of neural tube defects and their contribution to mortality in settings where their bur...
Elisa Garcia Gomez, Kitiezo Aggrey Igunza, Zachary J. Madewell, Victor Akelo et al.
Delays in illness recognition, healthcare seeking, and in the provision of appropriate clinical care are common in resource-limited settings. Our objective was to determine the frequency of delays in the "Three Delays-in-Healthcare", and factors associated with delays, among deceased infants and chi...
Ikechukwu U. Ogbuanu, Kephas Otieno, Rosauro Varo, Samba O. Sow et al.
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 cru...
Sana Mahtab, Zachary J. Madewell, Shabir A. Madhi, Amy Wise et al.
Abstract Background Invasive Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is a common cause of early-onset neonatal sepsis and is also associated with stillbirth. This study aimed to determine the proportion of stillborn infants and infants who died between 0 and 90 days attributable to GBS using postmortem minimall...
Chris A. Rees, Kitiezo Aggrey Igunza, Zachary J. Madewell, Victor Akelo et al.
Background: Most childhood deaths globally are considered preventable through high-quality clinical care, which includes adherence to clinical care recommendations. Our objective was to describe adherence to World Health Organization recommendations for the management of leading causes of death amon...
Sana Mahtab, Zachary J. Madewell, Vicky L. Baillie, Ziyaad Dangor et al.
BACKGROUND: The role of meningitis in causing deaths and in children under 5 is unclear, especially since widespread use of vaccines to prevent common causes of meningitis. Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance (CHAMPS) uses post-mortem minimally invasive tissue sampling (MITS) and ante...