title: Brazilian experience with rapid monitoring of vaccination coverage during a national rubella elimination campaign.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe an adapted version of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) methodology for rapid monitoring of vaccination coverage and its use as a supervisory tool to guide decision-making and strategies for end-stage vaccination activities ("mop-up" operations) following a six-week national rubella elimination campaign in Brazil.
  
  
  METHODS
  Vaccination coverage assessments modeled on a variation of PAHO's rapid house-to-house coverage monitoring methodology were conducted by Brazilian municipalities following mass immunization of adults and adolescents from August to December 2008. Results of monitoring assessments conducted in 3 658 (65.7%) of 5 564 municipalities were reported to Brazil's National Immunization Program.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Information on vaccination against rubella was obtained from more than 1.5 million Brazilians (2.1% of the 70.1 million people targeted for immunization) during vaccination coverage monitoring. According to the assessment data, vaccination targets of 95% coverage were reached in 2 175 (59.5%) of the 3 658 municipalities that reported results. The percentage of municipalities that reached coverage targets was lower than administrative coverage estimates (number of vaccine doses administered divided by the immunization target population). These results informed targeted "mop-up" campaigns to reach unvaccinated populations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Rapid coverage monitoring implemented at the local level proved useful for deciding when to conclude vaccination activities and where to focus additional efforts to achieve desired coverage.
authors.affiliation: Programa Nacional de Imunização, Secretaria de Vigilância em Saúde, Ministério da Saúde, Brasília, Brazil.
authors.forename: Antonia Maria da Silva
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Teixeira
authors.forename: Samia Abdul
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Samad
authors.forename: Marcos Aurélio de
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Souza
authors.forename: Teresa Cristina
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Segatto
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Morice
authors.forename: Brendan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Flannery
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017589:Immunization Programs / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D022542:Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccine; D010175:Pan American Health Organization; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods*; D012409:Rubella / Q000517:prevention & control*; D014504:Urban Health; D014611:Vaccination / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D022542:Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccine