Expanding Poliomyelitis and Measles Surveillance Networks to Establish Surveillance for Acute Meningitis and Encephalitis Syndromes—Bangladesh, China, and India, 2006-2008

Quality surveillance is critical to the control and elimination of vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs). A key strategy for enhancing VPD surveillance, outlined in the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Framework for Immunization Monitoring and Surveillance (GFIMS), is to expand and link existing VPD surveillance systems (particularly those developed for polio eradication and measles elimination) to include other priority VPDs. As countries achieve polio-free status, many have expanded syndromic surveillance to include persons with rash and fever, and have built measles diagnostic capacity in existing polio reference laboratories. Here, details describing a prototype in expanding existing polio and measles surveillance networks in Bangladesh, China, and India to include surveillance for viral and bacterial vaccine-preventable causes of acute meningitis/encephalitis syndrome and acute encephalitis syndrome and presents data from 2006-08 are reported.