Guidelines for poliovirus surveillance in the WHO African Region
This document provides a comprehensive guide to surveillance of acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) and poliovirus by workers at all levels of the health system in Member States in the WHO African Region. This regional guideline updates a previous document (1) and reflects important technical and operational developments in AFP and poliovirus surveillance. It will be useful as both a reference document and for training and sensitizing technical and medical field officers conducting polio surveillance.
The field guide is intended to assist people directly involved in surveillance for AFP and poliovirus in their day-to-day duties in clarifying and resolving issues they encounter in the field. It will also be useful for induction and for on-the-job training of newly recruited public health staff whose terms of reference include surveillance of AFP and poliovirus. Another target group is data managers who collect, analyze and disseminate information on immunization and surveillance, to acquaint them with the basic principles and processes of AFP and poliovirus surveillance.