Table 1. National meningitis data quality and completeness indicators, Burkina Faso, 2011–2013.
| 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | |||||
| Districts submitting case-based surveillance data | 57/63 | (90) | 63/63 | (100) | 63/63 | (100) | 63/63 | (100) |
| Districts submitting CSF specimens | 57/63 | (90) | 63/63 | (100) | 63/63 | (100) | 63/63 | (100) |
| Suspected meningitis cases with a LPa | 2,766 | (97) | 6,302 | (97) | 2,758 | (97) | 11,826 | (97) |
| CSFs assessed for appearance | 2,417 | (87) | 5,723 | (91) | 2,585 | (94) | 10,725 | (91) |
| CSFs with a Gram stainb | 2,508 | (91) | 5,626 | (89) | 2,460 | (89) | 10,594 | (90) |
| CSFs tested by cytology | 1217 | (44) | 2,473 | (39) | 1,271 | (46) | 4,961 | (42) |
| CSFs tested at a national laboratoryc,d | 1,242 | (45) | 2,379 | (38) | 1,836 | (67) | 5,457 | (46) |
| CSFs tested by latex | 1,146 | (41) | 1,205 | (19) | 513 | (19) | 2,864 | (24) |
| CSFs tested by culture | 722 | (26) | 1,552 | (25) | 637 | (23) | 2,911 | (25) |
| CSFs cultured but found to be contaminatede | 190/722 | (26) | 275/1,552 | (18) | 107/637 | (17) | 572/2,911 | (20) |
| CSFs tested by rt-PCR | 1,133 | (41) | 1,396 | (22) | 1,704 | (62) | 4,233 | (36) |
Abbreviations: CSF, cerebrospinal fluid; LP, lumbar puncture; rt-PCR, real-time polymerase chain reaction.
a 1,166 (10%) of CSFs were tested by latex only, 742 (6%) by culture only, 2,017 (17%) by rt-PCR only, 482 (4%) by latex and culture, 529 (4%) by latex and rt-PCR, 1,000 (8%) by culture and rt-PCR, and 687 (6%) by all three methods. 5,203 (44%) were not tested by any of the three methods.
b Possible reasons why an LP may not reach a district laboratory for gram staining: difficulty with specimen transport, geographic inaccessibility of certain health centers, insufficient transport media
c Defined as being tested by culture and/or rt-PCR
d Possible reasons why an LP may not reach a national reference laboratory: insufficient transport media, insufficient quantity of CSF that was entirely used for Gram staining and cytology.
e 447 (78%) of CSFs cultured but found to be contaminated were also tested by rt-PCR.