Effect of a campaign with oral polio vaccine on general health: A cluster-randomised trial in rural Guinea-Bissau.

Objectives: To investigate in a cluster-randomised trial whether a campaign with oral polio vaccine (C-OPV) reduced mortality and morbidity.

Methods: We randomised 222 village clusters under demographic surveillance to an intervention (health check and C-OPV) or control group (health check only). Children aged 0-8 months were eligible.

Contradictory mortality results in early 2-dose measles vaccine trials: interactions with oral polio vaccine may explain differences.

Objectives: Between 2003 and 2019, three trials (randomised controlled trials [RCTs]) in Guinea-Bissau randomised infants to an early 2-dose measles vaccine (MV) schedule at 4 and 9 months vs standard MV at 9 months. The RCTs produced contradictory mortality results; the effect being beneficial in the 2-dose group in the first but tending to have higher mortality in the last two RCTs. We hypothesised that increased frequency of campaigns with oral polio vaccine (C-OPV) explained the pattern.

Timeliness and quality of peripartum care provision during a health system strengthening initiative in rural Guinea-Bissau: a qualitative situation analysis.

Guinea-Bissau has among the world's highest maternal and perinatal mortality rates. To improve access to quality maternal and child health (MCH) services and thereby reduce mortality, a national health system strengthening initiative has been implemented. However, despite improved coverage of MCH services, perinatal mortality remained high.

Implementation of the vaccination program in Guinea-Bissau: Coverage and missed opportunities for BCG at birth.

Background: The Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine is recommended at birth in Guinea-Bissau but often given with delay. Delays are not evident in routine coverage estimates since coverage is measured by 12 months of age. Studies show that BCG protects against other infections than tuberculosis and lowers neonatal mortality.

Discovering Subgroups of Children With High Mortality in Urban Guinea-Bissau: Exploratory and Validation Cohort Study.

Background: The decline in global child mortality is an important public health achievement, yet child mortality remains disproportionally high in many low-income countries like Guinea-Bissau. The persisting high mortality rates necessitate targeted research to identify vulnerable subgroups of children and formulate effective interventions.

Objective: This study aimed to discover subgroups of children at an elevated risk of mortality in the urban setting of Bissau, Guinea-Bissau, West Africa.