PLoS Medicine (Jan 2012)

Monitoring the introduction of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines into West Africa: design and implementation of a population-based surveillance system.

  • Grant A Mackenzie,
  • Ian D Plumb,
  • Sana Sambou,
  • Debasish Saha,
  • Uchendu Uchendu,
  • Bolanle Akinsola,
  • Usman N Ikumapayi,
  • Ignatius Baldeh,
  • Effua Usuf,
  • Kebba Touray,
  • Momodou Jasseh,
  • Stephen R C Howie,
  • Andre Wattiaux,
  • Ellen Lee,
  • Maria Deloria Knoll,
  • Orin S Levine,
  • Brian M Greenwood,
  • Richard A Adegbola,
  • Philip C Hill

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1001161
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9, no. 1
p. e1001161

Abstract

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Routine use of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) in developing countries is expected to lead to a significant reduction in childhood deaths. However, PCVs have been associated with replacement disease with non-vaccine serotypes. We established a population-based surveillance system to document the direct and indirect impact of PCVs on the incidence of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) and radiological pneumonia in those aged 2 months and older in The Gambia, and to monitor changes in serotype-specific IPD. Here we describe how this surveillance system was set up and is being operated as a partnership between the Medical Research Council Unit and the Gambian Government. This surveillance system is expected to provide crucial information for immunisation policy and serves as a potential model for those introducing routine PCV vaccination in diverse settings.