A community-based immunization coverage survey is the standard way to estimate effective vaccination delivery to a target population in a region. Accompanying serosurveys can provide objective measures of protective immunity against vaccine-preventable diseases but pose considerable challenges with respect to specimen collection and preservation and community compliance. Serosurveys were performed coupled to immunization coverage surveys in three administrative districts (woredas) in rural Ethiopia. Critical to the success of this effort were serosurvey equipment and supplies, team composition, and tight coordination with the coverage survey. Application of these techniques to future studies may foster more widespread use of serosurveys to derive more objective assessments of vaccine-derived seroprotection and monitor and compare the performance of immunization services in different districts of a country.
Authors: Mark A. Travassos, Center for Vaccine Development, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Berhane Beyene, Zenaw Adam, James D. Campbell, Nigisti Mulholland, Seydou S. Diarra, Tassew Kassa, Lisa Oot, Jenny Sequeira, Mardi Reymann, William C. Blackwelder, Marcela F. Pasetti, Samba O. Sow, Robert Steinglass, Amha Kebede, and Myron M. Levine.
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