CHAMPS SITE
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Causes of Death Among Stillbirths and Children Aged <5 Years in Africa and South Asia — Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance, Seven Countries, 2016–2024
Global NetworkCDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report2026Cite ShareZachary J. Madewell, PhD1; Ziyaad Dangor, PhD2; Portia C. Mutevedzi, PhD3; Siobhan L. Johnstone, PhD2; Sanjay G. Lala, PhD4; Shabir A. Madhi, PhD2,5; Sithembiso Velaphi, PhD4; Nega Assefa, PhD6,7,8; Meron Kebede, MD7; Lola Madrid, PhD6,8; Dadi Marami, MSc6,7; J. Anthony G. Scott, MBBS8; George Aol, MCHD9; Kitiezo Aggrey Igunza9; Hellen Muttai, PhD10; Peter Nyamthimba Onyango, MA9; Peter O. Otieno, MA9; Quique Bassat, MD, PhD11,12,13,14,15,16,17; Marcelino Garrine, DVM, PhD12,18; Milton Kincardett, MD12; Inácio Mandomando, PhD11,12,18,19; Ariel Nhacolo, MSc12; Jane Juma, MCHD20; Adama Mamby Keita, MD20; Karen L. Kotloff, MD21; Samba O. Sow, MD20; Milagritos D. Tapia, MD21; Afsana Afrin, MPH22; Shams El Arifeen, DrPH22; Rajib Biswas, MBBS22; Emily S. Gurley, PhD23; Mohammad Zahid Hossain, PhD22; Soter Ameh, PhD24,25,26; Ima-Abasi Bassey, MBBCh24,27; Erick Kaluma, MPH24; Dickens Kowuor, MSc24; Ikechukwu Udo Ogbuanu, MD, PhD24,28; Julu Bhatnagar, PhD29; Dianna M. Blau, DVM, PhD1; Kevin R. Clarke, MD1; Maureen H. Diaz, PhD30; Michelle Dynes, PhD31; Jennifer Kasten, MD29; Roosecelis B. Martines, MD30; Lesley McGee, PhD30; Diane F. Morof, MD32; Elizabeth O’Mara Sage, PhD1; Pratima L. Raghunathan, PhD1; Jana Ritter, DVM29; Wun-Ju Shieh, MD, PhD29; Allan W. Taylor, MD1; Srinivasan Velusamy, PhD30; Jennifer R. Verani, MD30; Ashutosh Wadhwa, PhD33; Jessica L. Waller, MS30; Jonas Winchell, PhD30; Jacob S. Witherbee, MPH30; Mary-Claire Worrell, MPH34; Victor Akelo, MD35; Jeffrey P. Koplan, MD3; Robert F. Breiman, MD3,28; Cynthia G. Whitney, MD36
Problem/Condition: Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia have the highest rates of stillbirths and rates of death among children aged <5 years, with many countries in those regions unlikely to meet the 2030 goal of ending preventable deaths among newborns and children aged <5 years. Conventional mortality surveillance (determining cause of death…
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Postmortem point-of care hemoglobin testing is feasible and potentially accurate among children in South Africa
South AfricaPLOS Global Public Health2025Cite Sharedu Toit, J., Wang, Y., Luo, H., Liu, L., Blau, D. M., Whitney, C. G., Werner, R., Bassat, Q., Storath, K., Makekeng, P., Dangor, Z., Mahdi, S. A., Wanga, V., & Suchdev, P. S. (2025). Postmortem point-of-care hemoglobin testing is feasible and potentially accurate among children in South Africa. PLOS Global Public Health, 5(2), e0003997. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgph.0003997
Anemia is an important cause of child morbidity and mortality. Postmortem point-of-care hemoglobin testing is a potential method for assessing anemia at death, but its reliability has not been extensively studied. We aimed to assess the feasibility and validity of postmortem point-of-care hemoglobin assessment using HemoCue in the setting of…
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Making sense of the unexpected: neural tube defects in Ethiopia
EthiopiaDiscover Social Science and Health2025Cite ShareBreines, M.R., Aliyi, M., Asnake, K. et al. Making sense of the unexpected: neural tube defects in Ethiopia. Discov Soc Sci Health 5, 91 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s44155-025-00193-6
Abstract Neural tube defects are severe birth defects with visible and devastating malformations in babies, and can lead to death before, during or soon after birth. Neural tube defects are preventable, and in many countries there has been an increasing ‘responsibilization’ of pregnant women in terms of taking folic acid…
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Investigating the role of cytomegalovirus as a cause of stillbirths and child deaths in low and middle-income countries through postmortem minimally invasive tissue sampling
Multiple sitesClinical Infectious Disease2025Cite ShareVelaphi, S., Madewell, Z. J., Tippett-Barr, B., Blau, D. M., Rogena, E. A., Lala, S. G., Mahtab, S., Swart, P. J., Akelo, V., Onyango, D., Otieno, K., Rogena, E. A., Were, J. A., Bassat, Q., Carrilho, C., Mandomando, I., Torres-Fernandez, D., Varo, R., Luke, R., Moses, F., Nwajiobi-Princewill, P., Ogbuanu, I. U., Ojulong, J., Arifeen, S. E., Gurley, E. S., Assefa, N., Gedefa, L., Madrid, L., Scott, J. A. G., Wale, H., Juma, J., Keita, A. M., Kotloff, K. L., Sow, S. O., Tapia, M. D., Mutevedzi, P., Whitney, C. G., & Madhi, S. A. (2025). Investigating the role of cytomegalovirus as a cause of stillbirths and child deaths in low and middle-income countries through postmortem minimally invasive tissue sampling. Clinical Infectious Diseases, ciaf098. https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciaf098
Background There is paucity of information on the role of cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection as a cause of stillbirths or childhood deaths in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs). We investigated attribution of CMV-disease in the causal pathway to stillbirths and deaths in children <5 years of age in seven LMICs participating in…
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A novel virulent core genome multilocus sequence type CT 11424 of Listeria monocytogenes isolate causing stillbirth in Bangladesh
BangladeshBMC Microbiology2025Cite ShareAlam, M., Islam, M. S., Jahan, M. I., Deb, A. S., Rahman, A., Islam, Z., Chowdhury, A. I., Islam, K. M., Hossain, M. Z., Ahmed, D., Arifeen, S. E., Gurley, E. S., & Rahman, M. (2025). A novel virulent core genome multilocus sequence type CT 11424 of Listeria monocytogenes isolate causing stillbirth in Bangladesh. BMC Microbiology, 25, Article 61. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12866-024-03650-5
Background Listeria monocytogenes is a foodborne pathogen that can lead to severe pregnancy outcomes. This study reports the clinical and genomic characteristics of a Listeria-mediated stillbirth identified in January 2022 through the Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance (CHAMPS) project in Bangladesh. The Lm-BD-CHAMPS-01 isolate was recovered from the blood and cerebrospinal fluid…