Project Objectives
To characterize acutely ill children and their outcomes in hospital and after discharge and treatment with current protocols in order to identify and prioritize potential interventions.
CHAIN
Childhood Acute Illness and Nutrition Network (CHAIN)
Disease(s)Childhood Acute illness, Malnutrition
Country of Collection
Uganda, Kenya, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Malawi, Bukinafaso
Collection Sites
Bangladesh: Dhaka Hospital, Matlab Hospital, Burkina Faso: Banfora Referral Hospital, Kenya: Kilifi County Hospital; Mbagathi Sub-County Hospital-Nairobi; Migori County Hospital, Malawi: Queen Elizabeth Hospital-Blantyre, Pakistan: Civil Hospital-Karachi and Uganda: Mulago Hospital-Kampala
Project Funder
Bill and Mellinda Gates Foundation
Project Status
Active
Project Design
This study is a prospective cohort study involving children 0-23 months admitted to hospital. Cohorts include:- Acutely ill children and Community children. Study time points: admission, discharge, Day 45, Day 90, Day 180. Blood samples: Plasma, serum, whole blood, dry blood spot, rectal swabs, stool.
Projects Descriptions
Building the evidence base for care of acutely ill, undernourished children in limited resource settings - cohort study.
Specific Objectives
- To determine factors associated with i) mortality in hospital; ii) mortality after discharge; iii) readmission to hospital; and iv) poor nutritional recovery amongst acutely ill children.
- To describe clinical, socio-economic, behavioral, metabolic, infective and immune characteristics among children of different nutritional status (severe acute malnutrition cohort; moderate acute malnutrition cohort; non-malnourished cohort).
- To determine the rate of normalization of factors associated with risk of mortality during recovery from illness.
- To identify potential interventions and their practical and ethical dimensions to inform future trials.
- To identify differences in immune phenotype between children of different nutritional status, and to determine if distinct immune phenotypes correlate with survival and growth outcomes.
- To determine how nutritional status impacts neurodevelopment following acute illness.
- To determine the burden of LTBI and TB disease among young children hospitalized with acute illness.
- To determine how body composition correlates to growth and development and survival outcomes in six months of follow-up.