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There were 5,078 notifications received for this four-week period, 4 to 31 March 1998 (Tables 1, 2 and 3). The numbers of reports for selected diseases have been compared with historical data for corresponding periods in the previous three years (Figure 10).

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Table 1. Notifications of rare¹ diseases received by State and Territory health authorities in the period 4 to 31 March 1998

Disease2	Total this period	Reporting States or Territories	Total notifications 1998
Brucellosis			13
Cholera	1	Qld	2
Hydatid infection	1	Vic	6
Leprosy			1

1. Fewer than 60 cases of each of these diseases were notified each year during the period 1988 to 1998.
2. No notifications have been received during 1998 for the following rare diseases: botulism, lymphogranuloma venereum, plague, rabies, yellow fever, or other viral haemorrhagic fevers.

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Table 2. Notifications of diseases preventable by vaccines recommended by the NHMRC for routine childhood immunisation, received by State and Territory health authorities in the period 4 to 31 March 1998

Disease1,2	ACT	NSW	NT	Qld	SA	Tas	Vic	WA	This period 1998	This period 1997	Year to date 1998	Year to date 1997
Diphtheria	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
H. influenzae type b infection	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	3	2	6	15
Measles	3	11	0	6	0	0	13	3	36	41	129	119
Mumps	1	7	0	0	1	0	6	3	18	22	45	46
Pertussis	0	190	3	100	54	2	10	29	388	629	2,472	2,261
Rubella3	0	5	2	15	2	1	11	7	43	74	154	453
Tetanus	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	2

NN. Not Notifiable
1. No notifications of poliomyelitis have been reported since 1986.
2. Totals comprise data from all States and Territories. Cumulative figures are subject to retrospective revision, so there may be discrepancies between the number of new notifications and the increment in the cumulative figure from the previous period.
3. Includes congenital rubella

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Table 3. Notifications of other diseases received by State and Territory health authorities in the period 4 to 31 March 1998

Disease1,2	ACT	NSW	NT	Qld	SA	Tas	Vic	WA	This period 1998	This period 1997	Year to date 1998	Year to date 1997
Arbovirus infection (NEC)3	0	6	2	3	0	0	0	1	12	15	25	56
Barmah Forest virus infection	0	10	-	38	0	0	0	-	50	85	172	237
Campylobacteriosis4	40	-	18	274	78	11	20	107	548	778	2,175	2,983
Chlamydial infection (NEC)5	10	NN	68	254	0	18	142	141	633	665	2,155	2,006
Dengue	0	5	0	100	0	0	0	2	107	11	183	101
Donovanosis	0	NN	3	0	NN	0	0	0	3	7	13	8
Gonococcal infection6	1	53	99	96	0	1	46	101	397	334	1,244	849
Hepatitis A	4	88	4	113	10	0	11	10	240	224	822	1,159
Hepatitis B incident	0	2	2	3	0	0	0	0	7	19	40	58
Hepatitis C incident7	0	3	0	-	0	0	-	-	3	1	19	2
Hepatitis C unspecified	29	NN	30	207	NN	13	3	91	373	660	1,297	2,103
Hepatitis (NEC)	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	NN	4	1	5	7
Legionellosis	0	2	1	2	1	0	9	0	15	12	55	38
Leptospirosis	0	3	1	6	0	0	2	0	12	4	39	30
Listeriosis	0	6	0	0	1	0	0	0	7	7	20	24
Malaria	3	12	3	0	1	0	11	8	38	40	163	164
Meningococcal infection	0	0	0	5	2	0	2	1	10	15	48	63
Ornithosis	0	NN	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	5	5	22
Q fever	1	5	0	15	0	0	1	2	24	36	95	138
Ross River virus infection	0	34	17	400	5	2	8	26	492	1,193	1,079	2,849
Salmonellosis (NEC)	12	128	66	331	56	6	74	61	734	774	2,396	2,171
Shigellosis4	3	-	9	16	7	0	4	15	54	75	188	256
Syphilis8	2	36	23	28	0	2	0	4	95	123	304	333
Tuberculosis	0	16	3	10	4	1	31	2	67	86	241	264
Typhoid9	0	5	0	0	0	0	1	0	6	9	34	27
Yersiniosis (NEC)4	0	-	0	9	0	0	1	0	10	29	82	99

1. For HIV and AIDS, see Tables 7 and 8. For rarely notified diseases, see Table 1.
2. Totals comprise data from all States and Territories. Cumulative figures are subject to retrospective revision so there may be discrepancies between the number of new notifications and the increment in the cumulative figure from the previous period.
3. NT: includes Barmah Forest virus.
4. Not reported for NSW because it is only notifiable as 'foodborne disease' or 'gastroenteritis in an institution'.
5. WA: genital only.
6. NT, Qld, SA and Vic: includes gonococcal neonatal ophthalmia.
7. Qld, Vic and WA incident cases of Hepatitis C are not separately reported.
8. Includes congenital syphilis
9. NSW, Vic: includes paratyphoid.
NN Not Notifiable.
NEC Not Elsewhere Classified
- Elsewhere Classified.

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Figure 10. Selected National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System reports, and historical data¹

1. The historical data are the averages of the number of notifications in the corresponding 4 week periods of the last 3 years and the 2 week periods immediately preceding and following those.

NNDSS is conducted under the auspices of the Communicable Diseases Network Australia New Zealand. The system coordinates the national surveillance of more than 40 communicable diseases or disease groups endorsed by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). Notifications of these diseases are made to State and Territory health authorities under the provisions of their respective public health legislation. De-identified core unit data are supplied fortnightly for collation, analysis and dissemination. For further information, see Commun Dis Intell 1998;22:4-5.

These tables were published in Communicable Diseases Intelligence Vol 22 No 4, 16 April 1998.