Surveillance and Research in Asia

Surveillance

ICDDR,B

The International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B): Center for Health and Population Research aims to establish the value of pneumococcal vaccine by determining the local burden of childhood pneumococcal disease and pneumonia in Bangladesh and the distribution of serotypes causing severe pneumococcal infections. It has recently received a funding boost from the Bangladesh government.

For more information, visit the ICDDR,B website and read ICDDR,B’s "Health and Sciences Bulletin."

IBIS/SAPNA

The Invasive Bacterial Infections Surveillance/South Asian Pneumococcal Alliance brings together a consortium of Nepalese and Sri Lankan hospitals and an existing Indian surveillance network in an ambitious project to better define the regional burden of pneumococcal disease. The investigating team has made close links with national health policy makers to ensure that the data gathered will help to influence health policy in these countries.

For more information, visit the IBIS/SAPNA website and read the SAPNA newsletter.

IEIP

The Thai International Emerging Infections Program is adding microbiologic surveillance into its existing population-based pneumonia surveillance program. By collecting blood cultures from hospitalized patients with pneumonia, this project aims to estimate the incidence of pneumococcal pneumonia in persons of all ages in Thailand.

For more information, visit the IEIP website and read the "IEIP Brief."

IVI

The International Vaccine Institute in Vietnam is conducting a pilot study of hospital-based pneumococcal disease in Khanh Province, in efforts to document the local pneumococcal disease burden.

For more information, visit the IVI website.

Mongolian Surveillance Network

Surveillance for bacterial meningitis and pneumonia is ongoing at six hospitals in Mongolia’s capital, Ulaanbaatar. This network continues to collect data that demonstrates the importance of pneumococcal disease in the region and that tracks the success of the introduction of the Hib vaccine in 2005.

EMRO: New network in 2006

This project aims to contribute to the development of a regional epidemiological surveillance network for vaccine-preventable childhood respiratory diseases due to pneumonia and meningitis in the Eastern Mediterranean region. The project will add onto the existing bacterial meningitis network currently operating in the region and will include hospitals and public health laboratories in participating countries.

Small Grants Projects:

Bangladesh

Follow-up of Pneumococcal Meningitis Cases to Determine Long-Term Impact (Dhaka Shishu (Childrens) Hospital, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and partners)

Egypt

Hospital-Based Prospective Surveillance of Severe Pneumonia and Bacteremic Pneumococcal Pneumonia in Children 1 to 23 Months old in Alexandria Governorate, Egypt (NAMRU3, Cairo)

Fiji

A Cohort Study to Assess Quality of Life in Young Fijian Children with a History of Bacterial Meningitis (Fiji Pneumococcal Project (FiPP), a collaborative project between: the University of Melbourne, the Fiji Ministry of Health (MoH), and the Fiji School of Medicine (FSM))

Prospective Meningitis Burden of Disease Study and Rapid Assessment of Neurological Outcomes in Children in Fiji: Part 2, Extension of Laboratory Work (Fiji Pneumococcal Project (FiPP), a collaborative project between the University of Melbourne, the Fiji Ministry of Health (MoH), and the Fiji School of Medicine (FSM))

India

Risk Factors and Consequences of S. Pneumoniae Colonization in the Nasopharynx of Infants in Vellore, India (Christian Medical College)

Indonesia

Pneumococcal Serotype Distribution in Children with Pneumonia in Indonesia (The University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, The Children’s Hospital in Denver, Colorado, USA, RS Hasan Sadikin General Hospital, and Padjadjaran University, Bandung, Indonesia)

Jordan

Study on Serotypes and Sensitivity Patterns of Pneumococcal Isolates Leading to Invasive Disease in Tertiary Care Centers in Jordan (Jordan University School of Medicine, Jordan University Hospital, and the Islamic Hospital)

Lebanon

Establishing a Pilot Surveillance Program for Pneumococcal Infections in Lebanon (American University of Beirut and partners)

Pakistan

Enhanced Surveillance for Invasive Pneumococcal Disease in Children in Sindh, Southern Pakistan (Aga Khan University)

Population-Based Surveillance for Invasive Pneumococcal Disease in Children in Rural Pakistan (Aga Khan University)

Viet Nam

Socio-Behavioral Study and Healthcare Utilization Survey of Community-Acquired Pneumonia, Meningitis, and Sepsis in Children of an Urban and Rural Community in Viet Nam (Khanh Hoa Health Service)

Cost-of-Illness Associated with Invasive Pneumococcal Diseases in Children, Khanh Hoa Province, Viet Nam (Khanh Hoa Provincial Public Health Service)

Asian Field Site

After a rigorous 11-month review process, in May 2005 PneumoADIP was able to announce the selection of sites in seven countries for further development as potential sites for large-scale vaccine evaluation. These sites represent the diversity of Asia and form a foundation for building a firm evidence base in Asia to support decisions on vaccine introduction.

Selected Sites:

• Kamalapur, Bangladesh
• Karachi, Pakistan
• Colombo, Sri Lanka
• Shivgarh, India
• Sa Kaeo and Nakhon Phanom, Thailand
• Nha Trang, Vietnam
• Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
• The Hib Probe Study sites, India