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There were 5,790 notifications to the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS) in the four week period, 26 May to 22 June 1999 (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 3,099 reports received by the Virology and Serology Laboratory Reporting Scheme (LabVISE) in the four week period, 20 May to 16 June 1999 (Tables 3 and 4).

The Australian Sentinel Practice Research Network (ASPREN) data for weeks 21 to 24, ending 20 June 1999, are included in this issue of Commun Dis Intell (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 26 May to 22 June 1999

Disease1,2	ACT	NSW	NT	Qld	SA	Tas	Vic	WA	This period 1999	This period 1998	Year to date 1999	Year to date 1998
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	0	1	2	20	14
Measles	3	3	0	0	0	0	6	1	13	23	166	176
Mumps	1	1	0	2	0	1	7	1	13	11	77	79
Pertussis	5	58	0	27	15	12	67	10	194	317	1,557	3,724
Rubella3	2	2	0	5	0	0	9	4	22	67	166	364
Tetanus	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	3

NN. Not Notifiable
1. No notification of poliomyelitis has been received since 1978.
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 2. Notifications of diseases received by State and Territory health authorities in the period 26 May to 22 June 1999

Disease1,2,3,4	ACT	NSW	NT	Qld	SA	Tas	Vic	WA	This period 1999	This period 1998	Year to date 1999	Year to date 1998
Arbovirus infection (NEC)	0	0	1	1	0	0	1	1	4	5	66	42
Barmah Forest virus infection	0	0	0	14	0	0	1	4	19	32	232	352
Brucellosis	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	2	1	11	20
Campylobacteriosis5	26	-	21	138	211	29	254	92	771	647	5,918	4,989
Chancroid	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Chlamydial infection (NEC)6	10	NN	68	262	84	17	280	111	832	826	7,817	5,112
Cholera	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	3
Dengue	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	6	17	146	286
Donovanosis	0	NN	0	0	NN	0	0	1	1	3	9	19
Gonococcal infection7	3	76	89	78	26	1	0	67	340	408	2,343	2,490
Haemolytic uraemic syndrome8	NN	1	0	0	1	0	NN	0	2	0	13	6
Hepatitis A	0	37	0	12	16	0	13	9	87	180	820	1,570
Hepatitis B incident	0	12	0	5	2	0	4	2	25	17	167	128
Hepatitis B unspecified9	6	153	0	48	0	3	191	108	509	606	3,196	3,438
Hepatitis C incident	1	0	0	-	5	0	1	3	10	31	155	135
Hepatitis C unspecified9	29	359	20	173	67	26	414	50	1,138	1,594	9,339	10,557
Hepatitis (NEC)10	0	2	0	0	0	0	1	NN	3	2	7	9
Hydatid infection	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	4	2	16	16
Legionellosis	0	6	1	1	3	0	3	0	14	16	151	122
Leprosy	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
Leptospirosis	0	4	0	14	0	0	0	0	18	10	240	78
Listeriosis	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	1	21	27
Malaria	1	12	3	8	2	0	8	3	37	151	358	382
Meningococcal infection	0	9	1	10	1	1	11	7	40	37	197	133
Ornithosis	0	NN	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	39	18
Q fever	0	12	0	18	0	0	0	1	31	36	222	259
Ross River virus infection	1	0	0	130	1	5	3	41	181	155	2,777	2,216
Salmonellosis (NEC)	4	43	22	103	33	7	55	47	314	486	4,728	4,522
Shigellosis5	0	-	13	4	2	0	8	7	34	41	311	333
SLTEC, VTEC11	NN	0	0	NN	1	0	NN	NN	1	3	13	7
Syphilis12	0	26	50	60	1	2	0	16	155	106	919	639
TTP13	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tuberculosis	0	60	2	5	1	1	30	2	101	110	698	610
Typhoid14	0	3	0	0	0	0	4	1	8	2	36	50
Yersiniosis (NEC)5	0	-	0	2	0	0	0	1	3	17	83	138

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 1999 for the following rare diseases: lymphogranuloma venereum, plague, rabies, yellow fever, or other viral haemorrhagic fevers.
5. Not reported for NSW because it is only notifiable as 'foodborne disease' or 'gastroenteritis in an institution'.
6. WA: genital only.
7. NT, Qld, SA and Vic: includes gonococcal neonatal ophthalmia.
8. Nationally reportable from August 1998.
9. Unspecified numbers should be interpreted with some caution as the magnitude may be a reflection of the numbers of tests being carried out.
10. Includes hepatitis D and E.
11. Infections with Shiga-like toxin (verotoxin) producing E. Coli (SLTEC/VTEC) became nationally reportable in August 1998.
12. Includes congenital syphilis.
13. Thrombotic thrombocytopaenic purpura became nationally reportable in August 1998.
14. NSW, Qld: includes paratyphoid.
NN   Not Notifiable.
NEC Not Elsewhere Classified.
- Elsewhere Classified.

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Figure 3. Selected National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System reports, and historical data

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 20 May to 16 June 1999, and total reports for the year

	State or Territory1								Total this period	Total reported in CDI in 1999
	ACT	NSW	NT	Qld	SA	Tas	Vic	WA
Measles, mumps, rubella
Measles virus		1	2	1	3		13	5	25	143
Mumps virus								11	11	37
Rubella virus				12	2			4	18	56
Hepatitis viruses
Hepatitis A virus		2	2	9	6		2	37	58	229
Arboviruses
Ross River virus		7	17	124	2		7	128	285	1,183
Barmah Forest virus		1	4	29			2	10	46	129
Dengue not typed		1	1					13	15	45
Murray Valley encephalitis virus								1	1	2
Kunjin virus			1					2	3	5
Adenoviruses
Adenovirus type 1							4		4	16
Adenovirus type 2							1		1	8
Adenovirus type 3					4		5		9	27
Adenovirus type 4					1		3		4	7
Adenovirus type 37							4		4	12
Adenovirus type 40			1					11	12	38
Adenovirus not typed/pending		23		8	24		44	41	140	643
Herpes viruses
Herpes virus type 6								3	3	6
Cytomegalovirus		28	1	24	24		51	24	152	642
Varicella-zoster virus		15	4	36	36		63	66	220	933
Epstein-Barr virus		21	8	84	67		18	109	307	1,379
Other DNA viruses
Papovavirus group								5	5	10
Molluscum contagiosum								4	4	10
Contagious pustular dermatitis								3	3	11
Poxvirus group not typed							1		1	2
Parvovirus	1		1	3	3		42	16	66	227
Picornavirus family
Coxsackievirus A9							3		3	3
Coxsackievirus A10							1		1	1
Echovirus type 4							1		1	3
Echovirus type 9		1				1			2	25
Echovirus type 11		6					1		7	43
Echovirus type 19		1							1	2
Poliovirus type 3 (uncharacterised)		1							1	3
Rhinovirus (all types)		25		1	4			20	50	201
Enterovirus type 71 (BCR)							1		1	1
Enterovirus not typed/pending		3	2	4			9	96	114	440
Ortho/paramyxoviruses
Influenza A virus		39	1	13	26		37	20	136	399
Influenza A virus H1N1							1		1	2
Influenza A virus H3N2							4		4	7
Influenza B virus		3		1	3		5	11	23	71
Parainfluenza virus type 1		2		1	1		1		5	24
Parainfluenza virus type 2		2			4		18	6	30	55
Parainfluenza virus type 3		11		2	6		15	11	45	342
Respiratory syncytial virus		212	1	33	23	1	32	51	353	801
Other RNA viruses
HTLV-1			1					1	2	8
Rotavirus		62		1	17		27	89	196	552
Astrovirus							1		1	2
Norwalk agent							15		15	49
Other
Chlamydia trachomatis not typed		39	27	111	49	2	20	158	406	1,546
Chlamydia psittaci							15		15	47
Chlamydia species				2					2	8
Mycoplasma pneumoniae		25	2	29	7		56	27	146	659
Coxiella burnetii (Q fever)		3		12			7	4	26	91
Rickettsia - Spotted fever group								1	1	1
Rickettsia spp - other								2	2	5
Salmonella species								2	2	4
Bordetella pertussis		6		38			52	9	105	355
Legionella pneumophila					1			1	2	8
Legionella longbeachae					1			1	2	25
Total	1	540	76	578	314	4	582	1,004	3,099	11,587

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Table 4. Virology and serology laboratory reports by contributing laboratories for the reporting period 20 May to 16 June 1999

State or Territory	Laboratory	Reports
New South Wales	Institute of Clinical Pathology and Medical Research, Westmead New Children's Hospital, Westmead Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Camperdown South West Area Pathology Service, Liverpool	18 110 113 274
Queensland	Queensland Medical Laboratory, West End Townsville General Hospital	590 39
South Australia	Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science, Adelaide	314
Tasmania	Northern Tasmanian Pathology Service, Launceston	3
Victoria	Monash Medical Centre, Melbourne Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, Fairfield	64 236 281
Western Australia	PathCentre Virology, Perth Princess Margaret Hospital, Perth Western Diagnostic Pathology	787 124 146
Total		3,099

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Table 5. Australian Sentinel Practice Research Network reports, weeks 21 to 24, 1999

Week number	21		22		23		24
Week ending on	30 May 1999		6 June 1999		13 June 1999		20 June 1999
Doctors reporting	59		60		58		48
Total encounters	7,590		7,632		7,610		5,525
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	66	8.7	65	8.5	62	8.1	80	14.5
Rubella	1	0.1	1	0.1	4	0.5	0	0.0
Measles	1	0.1	1	0.1	0	0.0	0	0.0
Chickenpox	12	1.6	13	1.7	6	0.8	11	2.0
New diagnosis of asthma	12	1.6	18	2.4	16	2.1	7	1.3
Post operative wound sepsis	6	0.8	11	1.4	11	1.4	5	0.9
Gastroenteritis	70	9.2	73	9.6	82	10.8	35	6.3

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 1999;23:58.

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 1999;23:58.

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 1999. CDI reports the consultation rates for seven of these. For further information, including case definitions, see Commun Dis Intell 1999;23:55-56.


This article was published in Communicable Diseases Intelligence Volume 23, No 7, 8 July 1999.