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There were 4,339 notifications to the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS) in the four week period, 18 August to 16 September 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 2).

There were 2,868 reports received by the Virology and Serology Laboratory Reporting Scheme (LabVISE) in the four week period, 13 August to 9 September 1998 (Tables 3 and 4).

The Australian Sentinel Practice Research Network (ASPREN) data for weeks 32 to 35, ending 6 September 1998, are included in this issue of CDI (Table 5).

Figure 2. 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

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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 18 August to 16 September 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	0	0	1	0	0	1	3	22	36
Measles3	1	8	0	0	0	7	9	7	32	49	270	420
Mumps	0	4	1	10	2	0	2	10	29	19	140	144
Pertussis	5	111	1	69	32	6	70	6	300	827	4,955	5,688
Rubella4	4	4	0	66	1	0	29	4	108	116	598	984
Tetanus	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	4	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 18 August to 16 September 1998

Disease1,2,3,4	ACT	NSW	NT	Qld	SA	Tas	Vic	WA	This period 1998	This period 1997	Year to date 19985	Year to date 1997
Arbovirus infection (NEC)6	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	2	4	60	108
Barmah Forest virus infection	1	5	1	21	0	0	1	1	30	23	442	538
Brucellosis	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	2	8	30	27
Campylobacteriosis7	31	-	14	358	223	37	276	150	1,089	798	7,838	7,986
Chlamydial infection (NEC)8	15	NN	57	406	88	12	184	147	909	715	7,669	6,615
Cholera	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	4	2
Dengue	1	4	2	14	0	0	1	2	24	2	380	195
Donovanosis	0	NN	2	0	NN	0	0	0	2	0	27	23
Gonococcal infection9	1	60	105	79	12	2	75	73	407	300	3,873	3,192
Hepatitis A	0	31	1	68	7	1	3	5	116	168	2,099	2,331
Hepatitis B incident5	0	2	2	4	1	1	5	0	15	27	164	185
Hepatitis C incident10	0	9	0	-	4	0	-	-	13	2	124	51
Hepatitis C unspecified5	29	NN	34	295	NN	18	5	80	461	746	5,878	6,832
Hepatitis (NEC)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	NN	0	0	4	14
Haemolytic uraemic syndrome11	NN	3	NN	0	0	0	NN	0	3	NA	10	NA
Hydatid infection	0	0	0	4	0	0	3	0	7	11	33	39
Legionellosis	0	2	0	1	3	1	2	2	11	6	174	110
Leprosy	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	10
Leptospirosis	0	1	0	3	0	0	2	0	6	9	115	89
Listeriosis	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	3	2	41	58
Malaria	1	5	0	12	3	0	4	0	25	76	568	612
Meningococcal infection	0	20	0	11	5	3	8	12	59	64	316	337
Ornithosis	0	NN	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	2	28	39
Q fever	0	7	0	36	2	0	0	0	45	35	397	430
Ross River virus infection	1	8	4	64	1	1	0	4	83	66	2,436	6,362
Salmonellosis (NEC)	2	72	25	123	26	4	69	31	352	310	5,751	5,149
Shigellosis7	0	-	8	5	6	0	9	6	34	37	448	590
SLTEC infections12	NN	0	NN	NN	1	0	NN	NN	1	NA	14	NA
Syphilis13	1	36	37	91	1	0	0	5	171	108	1,071	929
Tuberculosis	3	25	2	13	8	2	23	5	81	75	725	725
Typhoid14	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	3	2	56	57
Yersiniosis (NEC)7	1	-	0	3	3	0	3	0	10	11	169	190

1. For diseases preventable by routine childhood immunisation, see Table 1.
2. For HIV and AIDS, see Tables 6 and 7.
3. 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.
4. 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. There have also been no cases of thrombotic thrombocytopaenic purpura (TTP), which became nationally reportable in August 1998.
5. Data from Victoria for 1998 are incomplete.
6. NT: includes Barmah Forest virus.
7. Not reported for NSW because it is only notifiable as 'foodborne disease' or 'gastroenteritis in an institution'.
8. WA: genital only.
9. NT, Qld, SA and Vic: includes gonococcal neonatal ophthalmia.
10. Qld, Vic and WA incident cases of Hepatitis C are not separately reported.
11. Nationally reportable from August 1998.
12. Infections with[Shiga-like toxin (verotoxin) producing E. Coli (SLTEC/VTEC) became nationally reportable in August 1998.
13. Includes congenital syphilis.
14. NSW, Qld, Vic: includes paratyphoid.
NN Not Notifiable.
NEC Not Elsewhere Classified
- Elsewhere Classified.
NA Not applicable, as reporting for this condition did not commence until 1998.

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Table 3. Virology and serology laboratory reports by State or Territory¹ for the reporting period 13 August to 9 September 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						4	5	51
Mumps virus								4	4	31
Rubella virus				11	1		2	1	15	90
Hepatitis viruses
Hepatitis A virus	4	4	1	9	3			2	23	311
Hepatitis D virus				1					1	4
Arboviruses
Ross River virus		1	1	20	1			4	27	581
Barmah Forest virus							2		2	26
Dengue not typed								3	3	28
Flavivirus (unspecified)				3			4		7	56
Adenoviruses
Adenovirus type 2							3		3	18
Adenovirus type 3					1		3		4	30
Adenovirus type 8							1		1	4
Adenovirus type 37							1		1	2
Adenovirus type 40								4	4	9
Adenovirus not typed/pending	4	36		4	15		17	13	89	560
Herpes viruses
Cytomegalovirus		10		10	5		31	11	67	559
Varicella-zoster virus	3	18	1	32	5		22	20	101	919
Epstein-Barr virus		43		48	21		16	8	136	1,245
Other DNA viruses
Parvovirus				3	2		20	12	37	166
Picornavirus family
Echovirus type 2							1		1	1
Echovirus type 4	1								1	3
Echovirus type 11		1					1		2	26
Echovirus type 22		1							1	6
Echovirus not typed/pending							1		1	1
Poliovirus type 1 (uncharacterised)		2							2	5
Poliovirus type 2 (uncharacterised)		3					3		6	11
Poliovirus type 3 (uncharacterised)		2							2	3
Rhinovirus (all types)	3	28			2		5	6	44	353
Enterovirus type 71 (BCR)							1		1	1
Enterovirus not typed/pending	2	20		4		1	5	28	60	368
Ortho/paramyxoviruses
Influenza A virus	1	409	2	42	88	4	134	34	714	2,259
Influenza B virus		1			7		4	3	15	140
Parainfluenza virus type 1	1				16		2	2	21	265
Parainfluenza virus type 2								1	1	30
Parainfluenza virus type 3		4			4		5	8	21	244
Respiratory syncytial virus	107	142	1	25	79	13	489	142	998	3,079
Other RNA viruses
HTLV-1								1	1	14
Rotavirus	1	49			21	9	52	21	153	686
Other
Chlamydia trachomatis not typed		21	6	54	17		2	49	149	2,704
Chlamydia psittaci							3		3	36
Chlamydia species	10	6		1					17	52
Mycoplasma pneumoniae		14	1	27	8		25	3	78	983
Coxiella burnetii (Q fever)		3		4	1		3		11	90
Bordetella pertussis		4		11			16	3	34	796
Cryptococcus species		1							1	12
Total	137	824	13	309	297	27	874	387	2,868	16,858

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 13 August to 9 September 1998

State or territory	Laboratory	Reports
Australian Capital Territory	The Canberra Hospital	166
New South Wales	Institute of Clinical Pathology and Medical Research, Westmead	471
	New Children's Hospital, Westmead	188
	Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Camperdown	48
	South West Area Pathology Service, Liverpool	68
Queensland	Queensland Medical Laboratory, West End	331
	Townsville General Hospital	12
South Australia	Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science, Adelaide	295
Tasmania	Northern Tasmanian Pathology Service, Launceston	24
Victoria	Monash Medical Centre, Melbourne	85
	Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne	572
	Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, Fairfield	215
Western Australia	PathCentre Virology, Perth	280
	Princess Margaret Hospital, Perth	113
Total		2,868

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Table 5. Australian Sentinel Practice Research Network reports, weeks 32 to 35, 1998

Week number	32		33		34		35
Week ending on	16 August 1998		23 August 1998		30 August 1998		6 September 1998
Doctors reporting	58		46		51		41
Total encounters	8,029		6,670		7,048		5,964
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	174	21.7	136	20.4	123	17.5	79	13.2
Rubella	1	0.1	0	0.0	0	0.0	2	0.3
Measles	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	1	0.2
Chickenpox	8	1.0	2	0.3	11	1.6	9	1.5
Pertussis	4	0.5	0	0.0	3	0.4	2	0.3
HIV testing (patient initiated)	7	0.9	8	1.2	9	1.3	9	1.5
HIV testing (doctor initiated)	6	0.7	6	0.9	2	0.3	2	0.3
Td (ADT) vaccine	68	8.5	58	8.7	51	7.2	34	5.7
Pertussis vaccination	38	4.7	19	2.8	37	5.2	28	4.7
Reaction to pertussis vaccine	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0
Ross River virus infection	2	0.2	1	0.1	2	0.3	0	0.0
Gastroenteritis	69	8.6	51	7.6	66	9.4	69	11.6

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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.

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.

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.

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 in 1998. 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 10, 1 October 1998.