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

• Main Authors: 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
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2012-01-01
• Series: PLoS Medicine
• Online Access: http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3260317?pdf=render

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.