High SARS-CoV-2 seroincidence but low excess COVID mortality in Sierra Leone in 2020-2022.

While SARS-CoV-2 infection appears to have spread widely throughout Africa, documentation of associated mortality is limited. We implemented a representative serosurvey in one city of Sierra Leone in Western Africa, paired with nationally representative mortality and selected death registration data. Cumulative seroincidence using high quality SARS-CoV-2 serological assays was 69% by July 2021, rising to 84% by April 2022, mostly preceding SARS-CoV-2 vaccination.

Child, maternal, and adult mortality in rural Ethiopia in 2019: a cross-sectional mortality survey using electronic verbal autopsies.

Background: Ethiopia, with about 10% of Africa's population, has little direct information on causes of death, particularly in rural areas where 80% of Ethiopians live. In 2019-2020, we conducted electronic verbal autopsies (e-VA) to examine causes of death and quantify cause-specific mortality rates in rural Ethiopia.

Methods: We examined deaths under 70 years in the three years prior to the survey dates (November 25, 2019-February 29, 2020) among 2% of East Gojjam Zone (Amhara Region) using registered deaths and adding random sampling in this cross-sectional study.

Could vaccinating adults against malaria materially reduce adult mortality in high-transmission areas?

After a period of unprecedented progress against malaria in the 2000s, halving the global disease burden by 2015, gains overall in sub-Saharan Africa have slowed and even reversed in some places, beginning well before the COVID-19 pandemic. The highly effective drugs, treated nets, and diagnostics that fueled the initial progress all face some threats to their effectiveness, and global funding to maintain and increase their use over the long term is not guaranteed. Malaria vaccines are among the most promising new interventions that could accelerate the elimination of malaria.

Adult malaria mortality during 2019 at Bo Government Hospital, Sierra Leone.

It is uncertain whether malaria is an important cause of death among adults in endemic areas. We performed a chart review of adults admitted to Bo Government Hospital during 2019. Of 893 admissions, 149 (59% female, mean age 58.