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NNDSS childhood vaccine preventable diseases | NNDSS table | Historic figure | Labvise table by organism | Labvise table by laboratory | ASPREN table

There were 5,110 notifications to the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS) in the four week period, 13 October to 9 November 1999 (Tables 1 and 2). The number of reports for selected diseases have been compared with historical data for corresponding periods in the previous three years (Figure 6).

There were 4,610 reports received by the Virology and Serology Laboratory Reporting Scheme (LabVISE) in the four week period, 7 October to 3 November 1999 (Tables 3 and 4).

The Australian Sentinel Practice Research Network (ASPREN) data for weeks 41 to 44, ending 7 November 1999, are included in this issue of CDI (Table 5).

Figure 6. 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 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 13 October to 9 November 1999

Disease1	ACT	NSW	NT	Qld	SA	Tas	Vic	WA	This period 1999	This period 1998	Year to date 19992	Year to date 1998
Diphtheria	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
H. influenzae type b infection	1	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	4	3	46	29
Measles	0	1	1	2	1	0	10	2	17	11	274	280
Mumps	0	2	0	0	0	1	10	2	15	4	160	151
Pertussis	6	53	0	84	19	145	94	0	401	432	3,499	5,721
Rubella3	0	2	0	15	0	2	9	1	29	55	341	709
Tetanus	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	6

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 13 October to 9 November 1999

Disease1,2,3	ACT	NSW	NT	Qld	SA	Tas	Vic	WA	This period 1999	This period 1998	Year to date 19994	Year to date 1998
Arbovirus infection (NEC)	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	71	58
Barmah Forest virus infection	0	5	0	10	0	0	0	0	15	23	560	490
Brucellosis	0	0	0	8	0	0	1	0	9	6	45	39
Campylobacteriosis5	12	-	10	209	160	37	282	99	809	1,379	10,672	10,797
Chancroid	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Chlamydial infection (NEC)6,7	19	76	77	398	67	21	203	83	944	1,020	11,956	9,587
Cholera	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	4
Dengue	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	37	169	432
Donovanosis7	0	0	1	0	NN	0	0	1	2	1	17	30
Gonococcal infection8	0	32	75	102	23	0	57	40	329	401	4,789	4,535
Haemolytic uraemic syndrome9	NN	2	0	0	0	0	NN	0	2	2	15	12
Hepatitis A	1	13	10	24	11	0	34	12	105	134	1,425	2,323
Hepatitis B incident	0	1	0	5	1	0	3	1	11	18	247	228
Hepatitis B unspecified10	6	118	0	68	0	1	152	10	355	608	6,169	5,637
Hepatitis C incident	2	2	0	-	4	0	0	2	10	44	255	280
Hepatitis C unspecified10	28	351	16	271	50	37	436	51	1,240	1,392	17,419	16,484
Hepatitis (NEC)11	0	2	0	2	0	0	0	NN	4	0	34	15
Hydatid infection	0	NN	0	0	0	1	2	0	3	2	27	37
Legionellosis	0	1	0	3	2	0	1	2	9	39	224	225
Leprosy	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	6	2
Leptospirosis	0	6	0	3	0	0	0	1	10	24	306	158
Listeriosis	0	2	0	0	0	0	2	1	5	4	56	48
Malaria	1	3	1	15	3	1	8	1	33	38	667	627
Meningococcal infection	0	11	1	2	1	0	14	4	33	32	498	394
Ornithosis	0	NN	0	NN	1	0	2	1	4	6	69	33
Q fever	0	5	0	34	1	0	1	1	42	44	481	487
Ross River virus infection	1	11	1	51	0	0	5	3	72	79	4,188	2,534
Salmonellosis (NEC)	6	39	24	145	32	11	84	27	368	595	6,626	6,714
Shigellosis5	1	-	4	7	9	0	10	4	35	58	497	533
SLTEC, VTEC12	NN	0	0	NN	3	0	NN	NN	3	0	23	9
Syphilis13	0	16	11	100	6	0	0	1	134	138	1,733	1,376
TTP14	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tuberculosis	1	21	9	9	1	0	0	5	46	73	793	829
Typhoid15	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	6	68	63
Yersiniosis (NEC)5	0	-	0	4	2	0	1	0	7	10	133	186

1. Diseases preventable by routine childhood immunisation are presented in Table 1.
2. No HIV and AIDS Tables this issue.
3. No notifications have been received during 1999 for the following rare diseases: lymphogranuloma venereum, plague, rabies, yellow fever, or other viral haemorrhagic fevers.
4. 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.
5. Not reported for NSW because it is only notifiable as 'foodborne disease' or 'gastroenteritis in an institution'.
6. WA: genital only.
7. Notifications from NSW have been received since September 1998, and were first reported in CDI in Issue 23(9).
8. NT, Qld, SA and Vic: includes gonococcal neonatal ophthalmia.
9. Nationally reportable from August 1998.
10. Unspecified numbers should be interpreted with some caution as the magnitude may be a reflection of the numbers of testings being carried out.
11. Includes hepatitis D and E.
12. Infections with Shiga-like toxin (verotoxin) producing E. Coli (SLTEC/VTEC) became nationally reportable in August 1998.
13. Includes congenital syphilis.
14. Thrombotic thrombocytopaenic purpura became nationally reportable in August 1998.
15. NSW, Qld: includes paratyphoid.
NN Not Notifiable.
NEC Not Elsewhere Classified.
- Elsewhere Classified.

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Table 3. Virology and serology laboratory reports by State or Territory¹ for the reporting period 7 October to 3 November 1999, and total reports for the year

	State or Territory1								Total this period	Total reported in 19992,3
	ACT	NSW	NT	Qld	SA	Tas	Vic	WA
Measles, mumps, rubella
Measles virus							5	18	23	177
Mumps virus								5	5	51
Rubella virus		3		58		1		1	63	131
Hepatitis viruses
Hepatitis A virus			18	23			1	14	56	346
Hepatitis D virus				1					1	5
Hepatitis E virus				1					1	1
Arboviruses
Ross River virus		8	13	129		1		15	166	1,303
Barmah Forest virus		2		21				3	26	149
Dengue not typed			3					5	8	52
Flavivirus (unspecified)			1	6					7	23
Adenoviruses
Adenovirus type 2							1		1	15
Adenovirus type 3							1		1	30
Adenovirus type 4							1		1	15
Adenovirus type 7							1		1	3
Adenovirus type 40								4	4	67
Adenovirus not typed/pending		15		13			21	56	105	1,082
Herpes viruses
Herpes virus type 6								1	1	11
Cytomegalovirus		28		67			27	14	136	1,008
Varicella-zoster virus		15	12	208	2		28	56	321	1,493
Epstein-Barr virus		21	8	378		2	5	35	449	2,003
Other DNA viruses
Parvovirus		1		37			6	17	61	409
Picornavirus family
Coxsackievirus A9		1	1						2	8
Coxsackievirus B2							1		1	2
Echovirus type 9		3							3	47
Echovirus type 11		19	1						20	151
Poliovirus type 1 (uncharacterised)		1							1	22
Rhinovirus (all types)		40					8	11	59	417
Enterovirus not typed/pending		3	4	11			2	55	75	732
Ortho/paramyxoviruses
Influenza A virus		10	1	149			17	70	247	1,777
Influenza A virus H3N2							4		4	33
Influenza B virus		8		12			13	7	40	250
Parainfluenza virus type 1		2		1				1	4	43
Parainfluenza virus type 2								2	2	103
Parainfluenza virus type 3		15		33			24	88	160	779
Respiratory syncytial virus		38	2	187		1	60	94	382	2,956
Other RNA viruses
HTLV-1								2	2	12
Rotavirus		62	1				66	90	219	1,966
Norwalk agent		1					1		2	68
Other
Chlamydia trachomatis not typed		55	105	510			5	104	779	2,805
Chlamydia psittaci								2	2	78
Chlamydia species		3		4					7	18
Mycoplasma pneumoniae		7	2	170			37	6	222	1,039
Mycoplasma hominis		1							1	6
Coxiella burnetii (Q fever)		9	1	61			2	7	80	191
Rickettsia spp - other								2	2	13
Streptococcus group A		6	32	157					195	241
Yersinia enterocolitica				1					1	10
Brucella species				4					4	6
Bordetella pertussis		5		185		1	22	5	218	630
Legionella pneumophila								1	1	20
Legionella longbeachae								8	8	40
Leptospira species		2		17			1	4	24	39
Treponema pallidum		18	235	147				1	401	507
Entamoeba histolytica				2					2	4
Toxoplasma gondii							1		1	6
Echinococcus granulosus								2	2	2
Total		402	440	2,593	2	6	361	806	4,610	23,395

1. State or Territory of postcode, if reported, otherwise State or Territory of reporting laboratory.
2. In 1999, data from the Institute of Clinical Pathology and Clinical Research, Westmead were under reported up to September.
3. Totals comprise data from all laboratories. 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.

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Table 4. Virology and serology laboratory reports by contributing laboratories for the reporting period 7 October to 3 November 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	86 93 38 56
Queensland	Queensland Medical Laboratory, West End Townsville General Hospital	3,158 11
Victoria	Monash Medical Centre, Melbourne Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, Fairfield	61 184 105
Western Australia	PathCentre Virology, Perth Princess Margaret Hospital, Perth	666 152
Total		4,610

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Table 5. Australian Sentinel Practice Research Network reports, weeks 41 to 44, 1999

Week number	41		42		43		44
Week ending on	17 October 1999		24 October 1999		31 October 1999		7 November 1999
Doctors reporting	48		51		49		50
Total encounters	6,548		6,019		5,915		5,673
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	28	4.3	14	2.3	20	3.4	25	4.4
Rubella	0	0.0	1	0.2	1	0.2	1	0.2
Measles	1	0.2	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0
Chickenpox	10	1.5	12	2.0	13	2.2	13	2.3
New diagnosis of asthma	7	1.1	12	2.0	9	1.5	9	1.6
Post operative wound sepsis	10	1.5	8	1.3	11	1.9	10	1.8
Gastroenteritis	66	10.1	63	10.5	69	11.7	62	10.9

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 legislation. 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 12, 25 November 1999.