The COVID-19 epidemic in Madagascar: clinical description and laboratory results of the first wave, march-september 2020.

Background: Following the first detection of SARS-CoV-2 in passengers arriving from Europe on 19 March 2020, Madagascar took several mitigation measures to limit the spread of the virus in the country.

Methods: Nasopharyngeal and/or oropharyngeal swabs were collected from travellers to Madagascar, suspected SARS-CoV-2 cases and contact of confirmed cases. Swabs were tested at the national reference laboratory using real-time RT-PCR.

Seroprevalence of pertussis in Madagascar and implications for vaccination.

Pertussis is a highly contagious infectious disease and remains an important cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide. Over the last decade, vaccination has greatly reduced the burden of pertussis. Yet, uncertainty in individual vaccination coverage and ineffective case surveillance systems make it difficult to estimate burden and the related quantity of population-level susceptibility, which determines population risk.