Severe Acute Respiratory Infections

Mai Le of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology in Vietnam will expand Vietnam’s systematic surveillance and sequencing capacities to detect potential pandemic pathogens, including influenza and coronaviruses, and incorporate agnostic sequencing of conventionally undiagnosed pathogens. They will build on the existing infrastructure of the influenza-like illnesses sentinel surveillance network, which collects samples from four outpatient clinics, to include testing for both influenza A and B and SARS-CoV-2 viruses, with the possibility to expand.

Chhorvann Chhea of the National Institute of Public Health in Cambodia will expand Cambodia’s Severe Acute Respiratory Infections (SARI) surveillance network by integrating metagenomic next-generation sequencing to better diagnose and monitor severe respiratory infections. Pneumonia is the leading cause of death globally in children under five years old, with the majority of severe cases classified as viral.