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There were 3,932 notifications to the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS) in the four week period, 16 September to 13 October 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 3).

There were 2,201 reports received by the Virology and Serology Laboratory Reporting Scheme (LabVISE) in the four week period, 10 September to 7 October 1998 (Tables 3 and 4).

The Australian Sentinel Practice Research Network (ASPREN) data for weeks 36 to 39, ending 4 October 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 16 September to 13 October 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	2	0	0	0	0	3	4	24	41
Measles3	1	2	0	1	0	1	3	2	10	95	282	516
Mumps	1	1	0	1	0	0	2	2	7	13	147	158
Pertussis	10	158	1	75	29	2	67	8	350	824	5,321	6,555
Rubella4	2	7	1	44	0	0	13	2	69	161	666	1,147
Tetanus	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	5	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 16 September to 13 October 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	2	0	3	0	0	0	1	6	6	65	114
Barmah Forest virus infection	0	13	3	14	0	0	0	0	30	30	476	568
Brucellosis	0	0	0	4	1	0	0	0	4	3	34	30
Campylobacteriosis7	16	-	21	320	201	27	286	116	987	738	8,855	8,737
Chlamydial infection (NEC)8	20	NN	75	294	80	10	166	100	745	508	8,487	7,185
Cholera	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	2
Dengue	0	4	0	4	1	0	0	0	9	1	390	196
Donovanosis	0	NN	0	0	NN	0	0	0	0	2	28	26
Gonococcal infection9	2	60	108	104	18	0	58	47	397	240	4,248	3,494
Hepatitis A	3	29	2	44	5	0	14	11	108	172	2,211	2,507
Hepatitis B incident5	0	5	2	1	1	0	4	0	13	18	184	203
Hepatitis C incident10	0	5	1	-	4	0	-	-	16	4	251	55
Hepatitis C unspecified5	17	NN	15	249	NN	22	13	70	386	611	6,724	7,498
Hepatitis (NEC)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	NN	0	0	4	15
Haemolytic uraemic syndrome11	NN	0	NN	0	0	0	NN	0	0	0	10	0
Hydatid infection	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	0	3	5	36	44
Legionellosis	0	0	0	1	2	0	0	2	5	5	181	115
Leprosy	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	10
Leptospirosis	0	5	0	7	0	0	3	0	15	7	131	96
Listeriosis	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	4	41	62
Malaria	1	3	3	14	0	0	6	1	28	58	596	670
Meningococcal infection	1	18	0	16	3	1	9	6	54	42	371	380
Ornithosis	0	NN	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	28	39
Q fever	0	28	0	16	5	0	1	0	50	37	449	468
Ross River virus infection	0	16	1	24	0	0	0	3	44	40	2,482	6,404
Salmonellosis (NEC)	3	73	24	124	14	5	87	40	370	316	6,165	5,483
Shigellosis7	0	-	9	8	3	0	8	4	32	45	480	638
SLTEC, VTEC12	NN	0	NN	NN	0	0	NN	NN	0	0	14	0
Syphilis13	2	32	16	49	2	0	0	1	102	71	1,203	1,010
Tuberculosis	0	14	0	3	2	0	18	2	39	82	773	808
Typhoid14	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	1	4	2	61	59
Yersiniosis (NEC)7	0	-	0	6	2	0	2	1	11	9	180	199

1. Diseases preventable by routine childhood immunisation are presented in 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 and Vic 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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Figure 3. Selected National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System reports, and historical data.¹

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 3. Virology and serology laboratory reports by State or Territory¹ for the reporting period 10 September to 7 October 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				1	52
Mumps virus		2			1			3	6	37
Rubella virus				4	1		1		6	96
Hepatitis viruses
Hepatitis A virus		1		4	4		1	6	16	327
Hepatitis D virus					1				1	5
Arboviruses
Ross River virus				9	1		1	5	16	597
Barmah Forest virus				1				1	2	28
Dengue not typed			2					2	4	32
Flavivirus (unspecified)				1			3		4	60
Adenoviruses
Adenovirus type 1					24				24	39
Adenovirus type 2					1		1		2	20
Adenovirus type 3					7		1		8	38
Adenovirus type 4							1		1	2
Adenovirus type 6					5				5	10
Adenovirus type 7					1				1	16
Adenovirus type 8							1		1	5
Adenovirus type 22							1		1	1
Adenovirus type 40							2		2	11
Adenovirus not typed/pending		16		3	49	1	6	12	87	647
Herpes viruses
Cytomegalovirus		8		7	15		30	8	68	626
Varicella-zoster virus		2		14	16	1	25	21	79	998
Epstein-Barr virus		11	2	41	85		18	16	173	1,418
Other DNA viruses
Papovavirus group							1		1	2
Parvovirus				3	4		8	7	22	188
Picornavirus family
Coxsackievirus B4					1		1		2	6
Coxsackievirus B5							1		1	3
Echovirus type 18					1				1	6
Poliovirus type 1 (uncharacterised)							1		1	6
Rhinovirus (all types)		12						8	20	373
Enterovirus not typed/pending			3	4	1	1		20	29	397
Ortho/paramyxoviruses
Influenza A virus		42	1	3	129	3	29	33	240	2,499
Influenza B virus					11		1		12	152
Parainfluenza virus type 1					5				5	270
Parainfluenza virus type 2					1				1	31
Parainfluenza virus type 3		4			16		2	14	36	280
Respiratory syncytial virus		85		7	283	80	267	49	771	3,850
Other RNA viruses
HTLV-1			1					1	2	16
Rotavirus		38	3		52	17	87	13	210	896
Norwalk agent							5		5	30
Other
Chlamydia trachomatis not typed		5	8	29	58	11	12	56	179	2,883
Chlamydia psittaci							3	1	4	40
Mycoplasma pneumoniae		13		16	35		36	6	106	1,089
Coxiella burnetii (Q fever)		1		2	1		1	2	7	97
Bordetella pertussis				15			19	2	36	832
Legionella longbeachae					1				1	28
Total		240	20	163	811	114	566	287	2,201	19,047

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 10 September to 7 October 1998.

State or Territory	Laboratory	Reports
New South Wales	New Children's Hospital, Westmead South West Area Pathology Service, Liverpool	119 115
Queensland	Queensland Medical Laboratory, West End Townsville General Hospital	167 8
South Australia	Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science, Adelaide	811
Tasmania	Northern Tasmanian Pathology Service, Launceston	27
	Royal Hobart Hospital, Hobart	85
Victoria	Monash Medical Centre, Melbourne Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, Fairfield	48 399 123
Western Australia	PathCentre Virology, Perth Princess Margaret Hospital, Perth Western Diagnostic Pathology	258 25 16
Total		2,201

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Table 5. Australian Sentinel Practice Research Network reports, weeks 36 to 39, 1998.

Week number	36		37		38		39
Week ending on	13 September 1998		20 September 1998		27 September 1998		4 October 1998
Doctors reporting	62		60		56		48
Total encounters	8,136		7,639		6,773		5,996
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	96	11.8	69	9.0	59	8.7	41	6.8
Rubella	1	0.1	1	0.1	0	0.0	4	0.7
Measles	1	0.1	1	0.1	1	0.1	1	0.2
Chickenpox	9	1.1	9	1.2	11	1.6	9	1.5
Pertussis	1	0.1	7	0.9	2	0.3	1	0.2
HIV testing (patient initiated)	17	2.1	11	1.4	20	3.0	8	1.3
HIV testing (doctor initiated)	6	0.7	5	0.7	4	0.6	4	0.7
Td (ADT) vaccine	57	7.0	44	5.8	42	6.2	38	6.3
Pertussis vaccination	35	4.3	41	5.4	41	6.1	33	5.5
Reaction to pertussis vaccine	0	0.0	1	0.1	1	0.1	1	0.2
Ross River virus infection	0	0.0	1	0.1	0	0.0	0	0.0
Gastroenteritis	73	9.0	80	10.5	91	13.4	78	13.0

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 11, 29 October 1998.