Expanding severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) surveillance beyond influenza: The process and data from 1year of implementation in Vietnam

BackgroundIn 2016, as a component of the Global Health Security Agenda, the Vietnam Ministry of Health expanded its existing influenza sentinel surveillance for severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) to include testing for 7 additional viral respiratory pathogens. This article describes the steps taken to implement expanded SARI surveillance in Vietnam and reports data from 1year of expanded surveillance. MethodsThe process of expanding the suite of pathogens for routine testing by real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) included laboratory trainings, procurement/distribution of reagents, and strengthening and aligning SARI surveillance epidemiology practices at sentinel sites and regional institutes (RI). ResultsSurveillance data showed that of 4003 specimens tested by the RI laboratories, 20.2% (n=810) were positive for influenza virus. Of the 3193 influenza-negative specimens, 41.8% (n=1337) were positive for at least 1 non-influenza respiratory virus, of which 16.2% (n=518), 13.4% (n=428), and 9.6% (n=308) tested positive for respiratory syncytial virus, rhinovirus, and adenovirus, respectively. ConclusionsThe Government of Vietnam has demonstrated that expanding respiratory viral surveillance by strengthening and building upon an influenza platform is feasible, efficient, and practical.