As of April 2020 there were approximately 20,000 cases of a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19) in 46 African countries, with 500 deaths, yet this is likely to be a severe underestimate due to facilities for testing and reporting cases.

There are a number of uncertainties about COVID-19, including the impact of COVID-19 on pregnancy outcomes, vertical transmission of the virus and potential for protective immunity via placental antibody transfer. These uncertainties are especially pertinent in sub-Saharan Africa, where co-infection with HIV, TB, syphilis and malaria are extremely common, revealing a doubly vulnerable population, where, if vertical transmission is proven, there is potential for severe long term consequences of COVID-19 infection on the health course of women and their infants. periCOVID Africa will build on existing pregnancy and neonatal cohorts in five African countries to:

• Develop COVID-19 surveillance in pregnancy in The Gambia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Uganda
• Estimate the seroepidemiology of COVID-19 infection among pregnant women.
• Determine the clinical course and pregnancy outcomes in pregnant women infected with COVID-19
• Define the immune response to COVID-19 in pregnant women and their babies and determine the presence of antibodies in cord blood
• Work with communities to develop understanding of infection prevention and control techniques to reduce the spread of COVID-19 amongst the pregnant population

For more details, please visit www.pericovidafrica.org.

November 2020 – December 2022