Individual Patient Data (IPD) meta-analysis and prospective systematic review of ZIKV cohort studies of pregnant women. (360G-Wellcome-206532_Z_17_Z)

Building on existing efforts to identify, register and harmonise individual cohort studies, and to conduct: 1. A dynamic, prospective systematic review of aggregate data published from all cohort studies; and 2. An Individual Patient Data (IPD) meta-analysis of all study data sets generated by the several cohort studies and made available to WHO The IPD meta-analysis is considered the "ideal" systematic review, and the most capable of providing a definitive answer to clinical questions. It is based on the compilation of study databases with data at the level of the individual patient or participant. The possibility of reanalysing data from individual studies and, when appropriate, combining their databases for meta-analysis make the IPD analysis a source of robust evidence. However, the IPD analysis is a complex endeavour with distinctive activities, including:- Identifying new and ongoing cohort studies through electronic search and contacting experts working in the field - Establishing and maintaining a collaborative group of lead investigators of the cohort studies (ZIKV IPD Consortium) - Building consensus on what data to collect using the template protocols - Developing a formal IPD protocol - Obtaining the study databases and checking the data - Reconciling the various study databases and merging them - Analysing the merged database - Publication and dissemination of results - Setting up a Secretariat at WHO comprising of staff to manage the project