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There were 3,368 notifications to the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS) for this four week period, 22 July to 18 August 1998 (Tables 1 and 2). The numbers of reports for selected diseases have been compared with historical data for corresponding periods in the previous three years (Figure 1).

There were 2,563 reports received by the Virology and Serology Laboratory Reporting Scheme (LabVISE) this four week period, 16 July to 12 August 1998 (Tables 3 and 4).

The Australian Sentinel Practice Research Network (ASPREN) data for weeks 28 to 31 ending 9 August 1998 are included in this issue of CDI (Table 5).

Table 1. Notifications of diseases preventable by vaccines recommended by the NHMRC for routine childhood immunisation, received by State and Territory health authorities in the period 22 July to 18 August 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	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	5	22	33
Measles3	2	8	0	6	0	4	3	5	28	62	236	371
Mumps	1	3	1	4	1	1	2	2	15	9	107	125
Pertussis	3	72	0	83	37	3	66	5	269	794	4,556	4,861
Rubella4	3	5	0	44	2	1	10	4	69	85	487	868
Tetanus	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	7

NN. Not Notifiable
1. No notification of poliomyelitis has been received 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. The total number of measles notifications for 1998 has been revised downwards because of a reclassification of 79 cases previously notified as measles by Victoria. These cases have been reclassified as 'not measles' following results of serology.
4. Includes congenital rubella.

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Table 2. Notifications of diseases received by State and Territory health authorities in the period 22 July to 18 August 1998 (diseases preventable by routine childhood immunisation are presented in Table 1)

Disease1,2,3	ACT	NSW	NT	Qld	SA	Tas	Vic	WA	This period 1998	This period 1997	Year to date 19984	Year to date 1997
Arbovirus infection (NEC)5	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	1	5	1	70	104
Barmah Forest virus infection	0	5	0	14	0	0	3	0	22	26	402	515
Brucellosis	0	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	4	2	28	19
Campylobacteriosis4,6	31	-	11	290	195	24	165	101	817	855	6,358	7,188
Chancroid	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
Chlamydial infection (NEC)7	7	NN	60	260	63	25	103	131	649	697	6,684	5,900
Cholera	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	2
Dengue	1	2	2	7	1	0	0	1	14	1	359	193
Donovanosis	0	NN	0	0	NN	0	0	2	2	6	24	23
Gonococcal infection8	1	58	100	81	9	2	47	86	384	304	3,438	2,892
Hepatitis A	3	41	7	65	7	0	5	8	136	210	1,977	2,163
Hepatitis B incident4	0	1	3	1	0	1	6	0	12	18	143	158
Hepatitis C incident9	0	5	0	-	5	0	-	-	10	4	104	49
Hepatitis C unspecified4	22	NN	22	201	NN	28	8	74	355	786	4,158	6,086
Hepatitis (NEC)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	NN	0	1	4	14
Hydatid infection	0	0	0	2	0	0	2	1	5	4	26	28
Legionellosis	0	1	0	1	1	0	0	1	4	6	159	104
Leprosy	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	7
Leptospirosis	0	1	1	10	0	0	1	0	13	5	109	80
Listeriosis	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	8	36	56
Malaria	2	11	3	25	3	1	8	3	56	52	545	536
Meningococcal infection	0	19	6	9	4	5	5	7	55	51	248	273
Ornithosis	0	NN	0	0	0	0	3	1	4	2	24	37
Q fever	1	8	0	14	3	0	4	0	30	47	346	395
Ross River virus infection	0	6	5	26	1	1	0	3	42	121	2,366	6,296
Salmonellosis (NEC)	2	44	14	100	20	4	61	26	271	321	5,235	4,839
Shigellosis6	3	-	4	4	4	3	7	7	32	51	406	553
Syphilis10	1	36	33	30	7	0	0	6	113	100	891	821
Tuberculosis	4	8	2	16	0	0	15	4	49	74	616	650
Typhoid11	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	6	52	55
Yersiniosis (NEC)6	0	-	0	8	3	0	0	0	11	20	162	179

1. For HIV and AIDS, see Tables 6 and 7.
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. No notifications have been received during 1998 for the following rare diseases: botulism (foodborne), lymphogranuloma venereum, plague, rabies, yellow fever, or other viral haemorrhagic fevers. Two notifications of infant botulism have been received in 1998.
4. Data from Victoria for 1998 are incomplete.
5. NT: includes Barmah Forest virus.
6. Not reported for NSW because it is only notifiable as 'foodborne disease' or 'gastroenteritis in an institution'.
7. WA: genital only
8. NT, Qld, SA and Vic: includes gonococcal neonatal ophthalmia.
9. Qld, Vic and WA incident cases of Hepatitis C are not separately reported.
10. Includes congenital syphilis
11. NSW, Qld, Vic: includes paratyphoid.
NN Not Notifiable.
NEC Not Elsewhere Classified
- Elsewhere Classified.

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Figure 1. 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.
2. Data from Victoria for 1998 are incomplete.
3. The total number of measles notifications for 1998 has been revised downwards because of a reclassification of 79 cases previously notified as measles by Victoria. These cases have been reclassified as not measles following results of serology.

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Table 3. Virology and serology laboratory reports by State or Territory¹ for the reporting period 16 July to 12 August 1998, and total reports for the year

	State or Territory1								Total this period	Total reported in CDI in 1998
	ACT	NSW	NT	Qld	SA	Tas	Vic	WA
Measles, mumps, rubella
Measles virus					1		3	3	7	46
Mumps virus		1						4	5	27
Rubella virus		1		8	2			1	12	75
Hepatitis viruses
Hepatitis A virus		5	1	12	6	1		11	36	288
Arboviruses
Ross River virus			2	12	1			10	25	554
Barmah Forest virus				2					2	24
Dengue not typed								2	2	25
Murray Valley encephalitis virus								1	1	2
Japanese encephalitis virus								1	1	1
Flavivirus (unspecified)				5					5	49
Adenoviruses
Adenovirus type 3							5		5	26
Adenovirus type 7							1		1	15
Adenovirus type 40							1		1	5
Adenovirus not typed/pending		12		7	15		4	13	51	471
Herpes viruses
Herpes virus type 6								1	1	3
Cytomegalovirus		13	1	17	2		21	9	63	492
Varicella-zoster virus		6	1	25	9		39	23	103	818
Epstein-Barr virus		6	3	38	23	2	8	39	119	1,109
Other DNA viruses
Papovavirus group		1							1	1
Molluscum contagiosum								1	1	2
Contagious pustular dermatitis (Orf virus)								1	1	8
Parvovirus				4	2		1	8	15	129
Picornavirus family
Coxsackievirus B4							1		1	4
Echovirus type 5							1		1	2
Echovirus type 11							1		1	24
Poliovirus type 2 (uncharacterised)							1		1	5
Poliovirus type 3 (uncharacterised)							1		1	1
Rhinovirus (all types)		6			6		3	21	36	309
Enterovirus not typed/pending				5				23	28	308
Ortho/paramyxoviruses
Influenza A virus		43	3	37	169		88	130	470	1,545
Influenza B virus		1			5		2	8	16	125
Influenza virus - typing pending								1	1	2
Parainfluenza virus type 1					10			2	12	244
Parainfluenza virus type 2					2			1	3	29
Parainfluenza virus type 3		1		1	2		1	12	17	223
Respiratory syncytial virus		207		28	78	10	229	328	880	2,081
Other RNA viruses
HTLV-1								1	1	13
Rotavirus		20			18	12	64	75	189	533
Other
Chlamydia trachomatis not typed		39	31	44	28	3	7	117	269	2,555
Chlamydia psittaci								1	1	33
Mycoplasma pneumoniae		17	3	50	15	3	27	1	116	905
Coxiella burnetii (Q fever)				6	1				7	79
Bordetella pertussis			3	14			30	5	52	762
Legionella longbeachae								2	2	27
Total		379	48	315	395	31	539	856	2,563	13,979

1. State or Territory of postcode, if reported, otherwise State or Territory of reporting laboratory.

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Table 4. Virology and serology laboratory reports by contributing laboratories for the reporting period 16 July to 12 August 1998

State or Territory	Laboratory	Reports
New South Wales	Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Camperdown	122
	South West Area Pathology Service, Liverpool	243
Queensland	Queensland Medical Laboratory, West End	331
	Townsville General Hospital	20
South Australia	Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science, Adelaide	392
Tasmania	Northern Tasmanian Pathology Service, Launceston	31
Victoria	Monash Medical Centre, Melbourne	158
	Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne	194
	Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, Fairfield	184
Western Australia	PathCentre Virology, Perth	474
	Princess Margaret Hospital, Perth	329
	Western Diagnostic Pathology	85
Total		2,563

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Table 5. Australian Sentinel Practice Research Network reports, weeks 28 to 31, 1998

Week number	28		29		30		31
Week ending on	19 July 1998		26 July 1998		2 August 1998		9 August 1998
Doctors reporting	59		60		57		55
Total encounters	7,729		8,152		7,208		7,483
Condition	Reports	Rate per 1,000 encounters	Reports	Rate per 1,000 encounters	Reports	Rate per 1,000 encounters	Reports	Rate per 1,000 encounters
Influenza	139	18.0	121	14.8	135	18.7	163	21.8
Rubella	0	0.0	0	0.0	3	0.4	0	0.0
Measles	1	0.1	2	0.2	0	0.0	0	0.0
Chickenpox	13	1.7	14	1.7	14	1.9	13	1.7
Pertussis	1	0.1	1	0.1	1	0.1	2	0.3
HIV testing - patient initiated	12	1.6	13	1.6	15	2.1	23	3.1
HIV testing - doctor initiated	6	0.8	7	0.9	3	0.4	3	0.4
TD (ADT) vaccine	36	4.7	28	3.4	46	6.4	54	7.2
Pertussis vaccination	36	4.7	54	6.6	44	6.1	34	4.5
Reaction to pertussis vaccine	2	0.3	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0
Ross River virus infection	0	0.0	0	0.0	1	0.1	1	0.1
Gastroenteritis	57	7.4	85	10.4	81	11.2	80	10.7

The 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 legislations. De-identified core unit data are supplied fortnightly for collation, analysis and dissemination. For further information, see Commun Dis Intell 1998;22:4-5.

LabVISE is a sentinel reporting scheme. Twenty-one laboratories contribute data on the laboratory identification of viruses and other organisms. Data are collated and published in Communicable Diseases Intelligence every four weeks. These data should be interpreted with caution as the number and type of reports received is subject to a number of biases. For further information, see Commun Dis Intell 1998;22:8.

ASPREN currently comprises about 100 general practitioners from throughout the country. Up to 9,000 consultations are reported each week, with special attention to 12 conditions chosen for sentinel surveillance. CDI reports the consultation rates for all of these. For further information, including case definitions, see Commun Dis Intell 1998;22:5-6.


This article was published in Communicable Diseases Intelligence Volume 22, No 9, 3 September 1998.