Feasibility of establishing a serosurveillance system using residual specimens from district-level hospitals: A case study in Choma and Ndola Districts of Zambia

Abstract

Residual blood specimens collected at health care facilities provide a low-cost and readily available specimen source to monitor population immunity through serological surveillance compared to more resource-intensive probability-based surveys. Despite concerns about the representativeness of these specimens, there has recently been increased interest in the use of residual specimens, driven by the need for rapid estimates of seroprevalence during outbreaks to inform response and prevention. Although residual specimen collection is a key component of surveillance systems in some settings, there is limited evidence of its implementation in low- and middle-income countries. We conducted a pilot project at three health facilities in two districts in Zambia between September 2021 through July 2022 to demonstrate the feasibility of residual blood specimen collection integrated into the health system to estimate measles seroprevalence. Through this pilot project, we were able to collect residual pediatric and adult specimens but with some modifications needed if residual specimen collection were to be implemented at scale, such as better integration into the routine functioning of laboratories and health facilities. This paper summarizes our experiences designing and implementing this residual blood specimen collection, including the lessons learned and recommendations for collecting residual specimens from hospitals.