Empowering Communities During the COVID-19 Pandemic Through Mothers' Support Groups: Evidence From a Community Engagement Initiative in Sri Lanka.

Community empowerment has previously been used to mitigate the effects of health emergencies, such as outbreaks of Ebola virus disease and Zika virus. In Sri Lanka, mothers' support groups (MSGs) aim to promote community health, well-being, and nutrition practices through community engagement. With the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, MSGs were mobilized by the Health Promotion Bureau in response to the pandemic. Key activities MSGs engaged in during the COVID-19 response included establishing communication networks, creating a supportive environment for preventive behaviors, organizing vaccination clinics, distributing essential food and medicine, organizing recreational activities, promoting home gardening, and monitoring community activities. We examine how these community-based empowerment initiatives successfully assisted in the pandemic response. Health officials can help to build more resilient communities that are better prepared for future health emergencies by valuing the community-level methods used in overcoming COVID-19 and further strengthening the skills of community group members.

Surveillance of invasive pneumococcal disease in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

The South Asian Pneumococcal Surveillance network uses standard recruitment and laboratory procedures for surveillance of invasive pneumococcal disease in India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. Children aged 2 months to 5 years who were admitted to the sentinel surveillance site, Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and who presented with signs and symptoms of meningitis, pneumonia, or very severe disease were studied. Blood culture and CSF culture specimens were analyzed at the microbiology laboratory at Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children. Specimens were processed by routine conventional methods. Antigen testing was performed on CSF specimens with use of commercially available latex agglutination test kits. From January 2005 to March 2007, we observed 23 isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae, and the most common serotypes were 19F, 14, 23F, and 6B. Of the serotypes found, 60% are covered by the currently available 7-valent conjugate pneumococcal vaccine. More than 90% of the isolates were penicillin resistant, and the rate of resistance to third-generation cephalosporins was also high.

Hospital-based surveillance of invasive pneumococcal disease and pneumonia in South Bangalore, India.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the incidence of invasive pneumococcal disease and pneumonia, distribution of pneumococcal serotypes, and antibiotic susceptibility in children aged 28 days to <60 months. DESIGN: Hospital-based surveillance. SETTING: South Bangalore, India. PARTICIPANTS: 9950 children aged 28 days to <60 months with clinical suspicion of invasive pneumococcal disease or pneumonia. RESULTS: The estimated at-risk population included 224,966 children <5 years of age. Forty cases of invasive pneumococcal disease were identified. Estimated invasive pneumococcal disease incidence was 17.8/100,000 with incidence being highest among children aged 6 months to <12 months (49.9/100,000). Clinical pneumonia syndrome was the most frequent diagnosis (12.5/100,000). Pneumococcal serotypes included: 6A (n=6, 16.7%); 14 (n=5, 13.9%); 5 (n=4, 11.1%); 6B (n=4, 11.1%); 1, 18C, and 19A (n=3 each, 8.3%); 9V (n=2, 5.6%); and 3, 4, 10C, 18A, 18F, and 19F (n=1 each, 2.8%). Serotypes 6A, 14, 6B, 1, 18C, 19A, 9V, 4, 10C, and 18A showed antibiotic resistance. Clinical pneumonia incidence was 2109/100,000, with incidence being highest among children aged 28 days to <6 months (5033/100,000). Chest radiograph-confirmed pneumonia incidence was 1114/100,000, with incidence being highest among children aged 28 days to <6 months (2413/100,000). CONCLUSIONS: Invasive pneumococcal disease and pneumonia were found to be common causes of morbidity in young children living in South Bangalore, India.