A Surveillance System for the Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Population During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Veronica B Ajewole; Ahone E Ngujede; Emmanuella Oduguwa; Deepa Dongarwar; Manvir Kaur; Cecelia Knight; Maresha Jackson; Uyen Nguyen; Tasha Roshan; Jordan Simpson; Igor Vouffo; Omonike A Olaleye; Hamisu M Salihu

doi:10.21106/ijma.411

A Surveillance System for the Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Population During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Int J MCH AIDS. 2020;9(3):350-353. doi: 10.21106/ijma.411. Epub 2020 Aug 9.

Authors

Veronica B Ajewole^{1

2

3}, Ahone E Ngujede⁴, Emmanuella Oduguwa⁵, Deepa Dongarwar⁵, Manvir Kaur^{1

2}, Cecelia Knight^{2

6}, Maresha Jackson^{2

7}, Uyen Nguyen^{1

2}, Tasha Roshan^{1

2}, Jordan Simpson^{1

2}, Igor Vouffo^{2

6}, Omonike A Olaleye^{1

2}, Hamisu M Salihu^{2

5

8}

Affiliations

¹ College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Texas Southern University, Houston, TX, USA.
² Maternal and Child Health Student Training Program, Texas Southern University, Houston, TX, USA.
³ Department of Pharmacy, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX, USA.
⁴ College of Business, Columbia Southern University, Orange Beach, AL, USA.
⁵ Center of Excellence in Health Equity, Training, and Research, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
⁶ College of Science, Engineering, and Technology, Texas Southern University, Houston, TX, USA.
⁷ Jessie Jones School of Business, Texas Southern University, Houston, TX, USA.
⁸ Department of Family and Community Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.

Abstract

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), and its ensuing mitigation measures have negatively affected the Maternal and Child Health (MCH) population. There is currently no surveillance system established to enhance our understanding of SARS-CoV-2 transmission to guide policy decision making to protect the MCH population in this pandemic. Based on reports of community and household spread of this novel infection, we present an approach to a robust family-centered surveillance system for the MCH population. The surveillance system encapsulates data at the individual and community levels to inform stakeholders, policy makers, health officials and the general public about SARS-CoV-2 transmission dynamics within the MCH population.

Keywords: COVID-19; Community level data elements; Community transmission of SARS-CoV-2; Coronavirus; Family-centered; Individual level data elements; Maternal and child health; Surveillance system.