Sustaining surveillance as an intervention during the COVID-19 pandemic in Cabo Verde and implications for malaria elimination.

Cabo Verde reported the first case of COVID-19 on March 19, 2020. Containment measures were quickly implemented and over 80,000 COVID-19 tests were performed in 2020 with 11,840 confirmed infections (2% of the population) and 154 deaths. In a setting where the last locally acquired malaria case was reported in January 2018, any interruptions to malaria care-seeking have the potential for infections to go untreated and transmission re-establishing. This work aims to determine whether there was any change in the number of people seeking care or being tested for malaria and, using an interrupted time series analysis, identify if any change was associated with implemented COVID-19 measures. Routinely collected surveillance data for outpatient visits, testing for malaria and COVID-19 were aggregated by month for each health facility (outpatient and malaria) or by municipality (COVID-19) from 2017 through 2020. The timeline of COVID-19 measures was generated based on when and where they were implemented. Results show that there was a marked shift in care-seeking in Cabo Verde. Overall, the mean number of observed outpatient visits decreased from 2,057 visits per month during 2017-2019 to 1,088 in 2020, an estimated 28% reduction. However, malaria testing rates per 1,000 outpatient visits after the pandemic began increased by 8% compared to expected trends. Results suggest that the pandemic impacted care-seeking but led to a non-significant increase in testing for malaria per 1,000 outpatient visits. With the cessation of international travel, the risk of imported infections seeding new transmission declined suggesting the risk of undetected transmission was low. It is important for countries to understand their specific malaria risks and vulnerabilities in order to ensure that any progress towards the interruption of malaria transmission can be sustained.

COVID-19 in Cabo Verde: an assessment of the first six months of the pandemic in the country.

Background: COVID-19, or the new coronavirus, has spread globally since its emergence in December 2019, bringing enormous global health and socioeconomic challenges. Egypt confirmed the first case of COVID-19 in Africa on February 14, 2020, while Cabo Verde confirmed the first case on March 19, 2020. Contrary to forecasts that the virus would swiftly spread throughout Africa, which would soon become the infection's epicenter, the evolution of the pandemic on the continent over the investigated time period has been slower than expected. Objective: This study aims to comprehend the progression and consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic in Cabo Verde during its first six months of existence. After the first confirmed case of the new coronavirus, on March 19, 2020, the government of Cabo Verde closed its international borders. Consequently, a state of emergency was declared with stringent restrictions on the movement of persons and goods. Additionally, facilities for the isolation of sick individuals, including field hospitals, had been established. To aid the most vulnerable, public and private organisations had organized fundraising drives. Results: Despite the use of mitigation techniques, the pandemic in Cabo Verde has caused severe socioeconomic harm. It is crucial to preserve and strengthen active surveillance, infection control, and risk communication methods. Social protection policies and economic incentives have the potential to boost infection control strategies.

Study of the Etiology of Acute Respiratory Infections in Children Under 5 Years at the Dr. Agostinho Neto Hospital, Praia, Santiago Island, Cabo Verde.

Background: Acute respiratory infections are one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality in children under 5 years in developing countries and are a challenge for the health system of these countries. In Cabo Verde, despite the lack of recent studies, data indicate that it affects thousands of children, being the fourth leading cause of infant mortality in 2013. The aim of this study was to identify and describe the etiological agents associated with acute respiratory tract infections in children under 5 years old, and their associated risk factors, such as clinical symptoms or socio-demographic characteristics. Methods: Naso-pharyngeal samples were collected from children under 5 years attending at Dr. Agostinho Neto Hospital (Praia, Santiago Island, Cabo Verde) with suspected ARI at different time-points during 2019. Samples were analyzed using FilmArray® Respiratory Panel v. 2.0 Plus to identify etiological agents of ARI. A questionnaire with socio-demographic information was also collected for each participant. Data analyses were carried out using the IBM SPSS version 25 (IBM Corporation, Armonk, NY) and R 3.5.1 statistical software. Results: A total of 129 naso-pharyngeal samples were included in the study. Seventeen different etiologic agents of respiratory infections were identified. HRV/EV was the most frequent agent detected, followed by FluA H3 and RSV. Coinfection with two or more pathogens was detected in up to 20% of positive samples. The results were analyzed in terms of age-group, sex, period of the year and other social and demographic factors. Conclusion: Viruses are the main causative agents of ARI in children <5 years attending at the pediatrics service at the Dr. Agostinho Neto Hospital in Praia city, Santiago Island, Cabo Verde. Some factors are described in this study as statistically associated with the presence of an infectious agent, such as having one or more children sharing the bedroom with an adult and the presence of some clinical symptoms. The data addresses the need for studies on respiratory tract infections in Cabo Verde.

Knowledge, attitudes and practices towards COVID-19: A cross-sectional study in the resident cape-verdean population.

CONTEXT: The first case of COVID-19 in Cabo Verde was confirmed on March 19, 2020. Since the beginning of the pandemic in the country, the government and health authorities have adopted restrictive measures to prevent the spread of SARS-CoV- 2 and well as defined risk communication and community involvement strategies. The present study aimed at assessing the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of the Cape Verdean resident population towards COVID-19, to support the government and the national health system in the definition of public health policies related to COVID-19. METHOD: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 1996 participants aged 16 years old and above. Data collected from April 5 to April 12, 2020, via an online self-reporting questionnaire adapted from a Chinese study. Descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, simple and multiple linear regression analyses were performed to determine factors associated with knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards COVID-19. RESULTS: The overall correct answer rate related to the knowledge about COVID-19 was 82% (9/11 * 100), 1970 (98.70%) of the participants declared they had stayed at home in recent days, 1926 (96.49%) had not attended parties, funerals or crowded places and 1860 (93.19%) confirmed changes in daily routines due to COVID-19. The majority of the participants, 1797 (90.26%), preferred receiving information about COVID-19 in Portuguese and trusted information transmitted by health professionals. Furthermore, television, radio, and newspapers were the preferred means of transmitting information about COVID-19. Participants' knowledge influenced COVID-19 prevention and control practices (rho = 0.119; p = 0.000). CONCLUSIONS: These findings showed that the resident population had a good level of knowledge about COVID-19; however, there is a need to use more effective strategies to improve attitudes and practices towards COVID-19 to attain better results in controlling the pandemic in Cabo Verde.