Pneumonia Etiology Research for Child Health Study ‐ Standard Operating Procedures  

This document describes the procedures used by the Pneumonia Etiology Research for Child Health (PERCH) Study, a project of the Health Research Challenge for Impact (HRCI) at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (https://www.jhsph.edu/research/centers-and-institutes/institute-for-international-programs/completed-projects/health-research-challenge-for-impact/pneumonia-etiology-research-for-child-health/index.html). It includes procedures for the collection of whole blood by venipuncture, capillary blood by finger prick and subsequent preparation of blood smear slides, collection of samples for microscopy and mycobacterial cultures by gastric aspiration, induced sputum collection, collection of percutaneous transthoracic lung aspirate, collection of nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swab specimens, pleural fluid collection, and urine collection. It also includes instructions for transport and storage of specimens from the collection site to the laboratory. PERCH Study SOPs are a product of the Health Research Challenge for Impact (HRCI) at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and are available at: https://www.jhsph.edu/ivac/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/PERCH-Clinical-SOPs.pdf.