Maternal Immunisation Readiness Platform - Identification and evaluation of existing surveillance systems and data sources for the prospective collection of RSV and GBS disease data in partner countries: Scoping review protocol

The Maternal Immunisation Readiness Network in Africa and Asia (MIRNA) is committed to assessing readiness and facilitating the introduction of RSV and GBS maternal immunization in partner countries, which include Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan, South Africa, and Uganda. A key aspect of the consortium's work involves identifying and evaluating existing surveillance systems and data sources for prospective collection of RSV and GBS disease data in these partner countries. This entails examining current data sources capable of capturing all-cause acute respiratory infection (ARI) or Lower Respiratory Tract Infections (LRTI) and neonatal sepsis that could be tailored for RSV and GBS surveillance. To our knowledge, no similar review has been published. To accommodate the diverse healthcare systems and data sources across the network, this scoping review protocol aims to establish a standardized approach for synthesizing available evidence. Each partner country will then customize the protocol to align with data availability and healthcare settings, with adaptations being documented. The discussion will include a proposal outlining how current surveillance systems or data sources can be adapted to effectively monitor vaccine effectiveness in each setting. Following this review, the Maternal Immunization Readiness Consortium will conduct systematic analyses of in-country burden of disease data for both RSV and GBS, presenting the findings to policymakers to emphasize the public health significance of these pathogens and advocate for the introduction of vaccines to alleviate the burden.