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There were 4,658 notifications to the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS) in the four week period, 14 October to 10 November 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 2,536 reports received by the Virology and Serology Laboratory Reporting Scheme (LabVISE) in the four week period, 8 October to 4 November 1998 (Tables 3 and 4).

The Australian Sentinel Practice Research Network (ASPREN) data for weeks 40 to 43, ending 1 November 1998, are included in this issue of CDI (Table 5).

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 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 14 October to 10 November 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	2	0	0	0	0	2	1	28	44
Measles3	3	6	0	0	1	1	2	0	13	143	298	662
Mumps	0	1	1	0	0	1	2	1	6	9	154	169
Pertussis	16	100	1	105	22	7	65	8	324	1,096	5,678	7,671
Rubella4	2	4	0	26	0	1	10	5	48	116	721	1,275

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 14 October to 10 November 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	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	4	66	82
Barmah Forest virus infection	0	1	0	14	0	0	0	1	16	29	494	642
Brucellosis	0	0	0	4	0	0	1	0	5	1	41	31
Campylobacteriosis7	22	-	18	420	279	33	385	172	1,329	935	10,303	9,799
Chlamydial infection (NEC)8	10	NN	77	388	89	12	167	117	860	634	9,418	7,760
Cholera	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	4	3
Dengue	2	2	0	30	0	0	0	1	35	5	429	204
Donovanosis	0	NN	0	0	NN	0	0	0	0	0	30	28
Gonococcal infection9	3	56	137	112	23	1	53	63	448	227	4,680	3,992
Hepatitis A	1	18	3	96	10	0	7	9	144	221	2,375	2,737
Hepatitis B incident5	0	2	1	3	5	0	4	0	15	14	208	216
Hepatitis C incident10	2	8	0	-	3	2	-	-	23	2	282	60
Hepatitis C unspecified5	16	NN	26	218	NN	25	16	89	390	687	7,872	8,301
Hepatitis (NEC)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	NN	0	0	4	5
Haemolytic uraemic syndrome11	NN	0	NN	0	1	0	NN	0	1	NA	11	NA
Hydatid infection	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	4	38	48
Legionellosis	0	1	0	4	4	0	19	3	31	11	215	125
Leprosy	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	10
Leptospirosis	0	0	0	10	0	0	4	0	14	10	148	106
Listeriosis	0	1	0	2	1	0	2	0	6	3	47	65
Malaria	1	5	0	9	2	0	5	5	27	15	622	691
Meningococcal infection	1	13	4	7	1	1	5	2	34	48	409	435
Ornithosis	0	NN	0	0	0	0	6	0	6	0	34	41
Q fever	0	9	0	20	1	0	0	1	31	44	490	518
Ross River virus infection	2	8	1	27	4	0	2	6	50	58	2,535	6,455
Salmonellosis (NEC)	8	72	33	163	35	9	131	61	512	414	6,782	5,985
Shigellosis7	0	-	9	19	5	0	9	6	48	54	537	696
SLTEC, VTEC12	NN	0	NN	NN	0	0	NN	NN	1	NA	15	NA
Syphilis13	1	19	38	39	2	1	0	2	102	89	1,306	1,111
Tuberculosis	0	11	5	8	1	0	28	5	58	76	835	818
Typhoid14	0	2	0	0	2	0	0	0	4	8	66	67
Yersiniosis (NEC)7	0	-	0	6	4	0	0	0	10	13	187	212

1. Diseases preventable by routine childhood immunisation are presented in Table 1.
2. For HIV and AIDS, see Tables 3 and 4.
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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Table 3. Virology and serology laboratory reports by State or Territory¹ for the reporting period 8 October to 4 November 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		2	54
Mumps virus		2			1			3	6	43
Rubella virus				4	1		2		7	103
Hepatitis viruses
Hepatitis A virus		1		4	4		1	6	16	343
Hepatitis D virus					1				1	6
Arboviruses
Ross River virus				8	1		1	5	15	612
Barmah Forest virus				1				1	2	30
Dengue not typed			2					2	4	36
Flavivirus (unspecified)				1			3		4	64
Adenoviruses
Adenovirus type 1					23		1		24	63
Adenovirus type 2					1		2		3	23
Adenovirus type 3					7		2		9	47
Adenovirus type 4							2		2	4
Adenovirus type 6					5				5	15
Adenovirus type 7					1				1	17
Adenovirus type 8							1		1	6
Adenovirus type 22							1		1	2
Adenovirus type 40							2		2	13
Adenovirus not typed/pending		25		3	49	1	15	12	105	752
Herpes viruses
Cytomegalovirus		10		7	14	2	41	7	81	707
Varicella-zoster virus		5		13	16	1	64	21	120	1,118
Epstein-Barr virus		10	1	40	85		26	16	178	1,596
Other DNA viruses
Papovavirus group							1		1	3
Parvovirus				3	4		19	6	32	220
Picornavirus family
Coxsackievirus A9							1		1	6
Coxsackievirus B4					1		1		2	8
Coxsackievirus B5							1		1	4
Echovirus type 18					1				1	7
Poliovirus type 1 (uncharacterised)							1		1	7
Poliovirus type 3 (uncharacterised)							1		1	4
Rhinovirus (all types)		17					9	8	34	407
Enterovirus not typed/pending			3	4	1	1	3	19	31	428
Ortho/paramyxoviruses
Influenza A virus		53	1	3	122	1	33	33	246	2,744
Influenza B virus					11		2		13	165
Parainfluenza virus type 1					5		1		6	276
Parainfluenza virus type 2					1				1	32
Parainfluenza virus type 3		4			16		6	14	40	320
Respiratory syncytial virus		116		6	278	80	312	46	838	4,688
Other RNA viruses
HTLV-1			1					1	2	18
Rotavirus		72	3		52	17	122	13	279	1,175
Norwalk agent							7		7	37
Other
Chlamydia trachomatis not typed		19	8	28	58	11	20	55	199	3,082
Chlamydia psittaci							12	1	13	53
Mycoplasma pneumoniae		13		16	34		58	6	127	1,216
Coxiella burnetii (Q fever)		4		2	1		3	2	12	109
Bordetella pertussis				15			41	2	58	890
Legionella longbeachae					1				1	29
Total		351	19	158	796	114	819	279	2,536	21,582

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 8 October to 4 November 1998.

State or Territory	Laboratory	Reports
New South Wales	New Children's Hospital, Westmead Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Camperdown South West Area Pathology Service, Liverpool	178 53 113
Queensland	Queensland Medical Laboratory, West End Townsville General Hospital	162 8
South Australia	Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science, Adelaide	796
Tasmania	Northern Tasmanian Pathology Service, Launceston Royal Hobart Hospital, Hobart	28 84
Victoria	Monash Medical Centre, Melbourne Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, Fairfield	47 546 231
Western Australia	PathCentre Virology, Perth Princess Margaret Hospital, Perth Western Diagnostic Pathology	250 25 15
Total		2,536

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Table 5. Australian Sentinel Practice Research Network reports, weeks 40 to 43, 1998.

Week number	40		41		42		43
Week ending on	11 October 1998		18 October 1998		25 October 1998		1 November 1998
Doctors reporting	51		57		54		54
Total encounters	6157		7663		6589		7037
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	25	4.1	31	4.0	22	3.3	20	2.8
Rubella	5	0.8	3	0.4	0	0.0	1	0.1
Measles	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0
Chickenpox	6	1.0	14	1.8	10	1.5	14	2.0
Pertussis	4	0.6	1	0.1	2	0.3	8	1.1
HIV testing (patient initiated)	11	1.8	4	0.5	14	2.1	11	1.6
HIV testing (doctor initiated)	4	0.6	10	1.3	7	1.1	3	0.4
Td (ADT) vaccine	41	6.7	46	6.0	37	5.6	49	7.0
Pertussis vaccination	37	6.0	49	6.4	40	6.1	43	6.1
Reaction to pertussis vaccine	2	0.3	4	0.5	0	0.0	1	0.1
Ross River virus infection	3	0.5	3	0.4	0	0.0	0	0.0
Gastroenteritis	94	15.3	79	10.3	62	9.4	63	9.0

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 12, 26 November 1998.