This article {extract} was published in Communicable Diseases Intelligence Vol 30 No 1 March 2006 and may be downloaded as a full version PDF from the Table of contents page.

Results, continued

Other communicable disease surveillance

Australian Sentinel Practice Research Network

The Research and Health Promotion Unit of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners operates the Australian Sentinel Practice Research Network (ASPREN). ASPREN is a national network of general practitioners that report each week on a number of conditions selected annually. The data provide an indicator of the burden of disease in the primary care setting and allows trends in consultation rates to be detected.

In 2004, influenza-like illnesses ( ILI), gastroenteritis, and varicella infections (chickenpox and shingles) were the communicable diseases reported to ASPREN. Each week an average of 28 general practitioners (range 10 to 40) provided information from an average of 2,913 (range 1,047–4,219) consultations per week.

Influenza-like illness reports (Figure 68) showed atypical seasonal pattern with two peaks, in mid-July (20.3 ILI per 1,000 consultations), and in mid-September (18.3 ILI per 1,000 consultations). This may reflect the different peak times of ILI in different jurisdictions (Figure 68).

Figure 68. Consultation rates for influenza-like illness, ASPREN 2004, by week of report

Consultations for gastroenteritis were not stable to show seasonality, they fluctuated between 6 to 17 cases per consultations. (Figure 69).

Figure 69. Consultation rates for gastroenteritis, ASPREN, 2004, by week of report

Reports of varicella infections continue to be reported at a lower rate by ASPREN. Rates of shingles exceeded those for chickenpox in most weeks but there was no recognisable seasonal pattern (Figure 70).

Figure 70. Consultation rates for varicella infections, ASPREN, 2004, by week of report