A print friendly PDF version is available from this Communicable Diseases Intelligence issue's table of contents.

There were 6,441 notifications to the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS) in the four week period, 5 January to 1 February 2000 (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 1).

There were 1,516 reports received by the Virology and Serology Laboratory Reporting Scheme (LabVISE) in the four week period, 30 December 1999 to 26 January 2000 (Tables 3 and 4).

The Australian Sentinel Practice Research Network (ASPREN) data for weeks 1 to 3, ending 23 January 2000, are included in this issue of CDI (Table 5).

Alteration to presentation of the NNDSS historical figure

As of February 2000, the colours used in this figure have been changed from previous figures. The current period data are now represented by the darker bar, and the historical data by the lighter bar.

Figure 1. Selected National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System reports, and historical data^1,2

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.
2. From February 2000, the bar representing notifications in the current reporting period is the darker colour, and the historical data are represented by the lighter coloured bar.

Top of page
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 5 January to 1 February 2000

Disease1	ACT	NSW	NT	Qld	SA	Tas	Vic	WA	This period 2000	This period 1999	Year to date 20002	Year to date 1999
Diphtheria	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
H. influenzae type b infection	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	4	2	4
Measles	1	1	0	2	0	0	5	1	10	6	10	7
Mumps	1	3	0	0	3	0	2	7	16	4	17	4
Pertussis	6	143	0	116	20	39	93	2	419	384	434	398
Rubella3	0	6	0	9	0	0	5	0	20	29	21	29
Tetanus	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

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.

Top of page
Table 2. Notifications of diseases received by State and Territory health authorities in the period 5 January to 1 February 2000

Disease1,2,3	ACT	NSW	NT	Qld	SA	Tas	Vic	WA	This period 2000	This period 1999	Year to date 20004	Year to date 1999
Arbovirus infection (NEC)	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	20	2	21
Barmah Forest virus infection	0	12	1	27	0	0	2	1	43	48	44	49
Brucellosis	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	3	3	3	3
Campylobacteriosis5	18	-	15	408	142	41	408	101	1,133	1,216	1,183	1,268
Chancroid	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Chlamydial infection (NEC)6	20	192	60	423	74	19	231	110	1,129	1,002	1,200	1,015
Cholera	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Dengue	0	2	25	9	0	0	0	0	36	61	41	61
Donovanosis	0	0	2	1	NN	0	0	0	3	3	3	3
Gonococcal infection7,*	1	97	61	147	21	3	62	41	433	465	467	473
Haemolytic uraemic syndrome	NN	1	0	0	0	0	NN	0	1	0	1	0
Hepatitis A	0	28	11	16	6	0	31	22	114	147	120	151
Hepatitis B incident	1	3	8	3	0	0	9	4	28	29	37	29
Hepatitis B unspecified8	2	167	0	84	0	4	105	51	413	517	432	530
Hepatitis C incident	0	2	0	-	6	0	3	2	13	26	14	26
Hepatitis C unspecified8	19	384	6	348	87	25	134	112	1,115	1,456	1,179	1,610
Hepatitis (NEC)9	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	NN	0	0	0	0
Hydatid infection	0	NN	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	3	2	3
Legionellosis	0	0	0	2	3	0	5	5	15	19	16	19
Leprosy	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Leptospirosis	0	4	0	9	0	0	7	0	20	32	20	32
Listeriosis	0	2	1	1	0	0	1	2	7	6	8	6
Malaria	2	14	5	43	1	0	5	1	71	54	73	61
Meningococcal infection	0	20	0	9	1	3	14	2	49	38	54	39
Ornithosis	0	NN	0	NN	0	0	2	2	4	8	4	8
Q fever	0	11	0	29	2	0	1	0	43	46	46	46
Ross River virus infection	2	26	39	228	6	0	6	113	420	444	442	454
Salmonellosis (NEC)	28	103	35	211	52	15	106	93	643	853	687	888
Shigellosis5	0	-	8	7	4	0	6	9	34	53	38	53
SLTEC, VTEC10	NN	0	0	NN	6	0	NN	NN	6	4	6	4
Syphilis11	1	52	24	58	3	2	0	1	141	137	144	141
Tuberculosis	0	14	2	9	0	2	0	12	39	66	39	68
Typhoid12	0	3	0	0	1	0	3	0	7	3	8	4
Yersiniosis (NEC)5	0	-	0	7	1	0	0	0	8	25	9	25

1. Diseases preventable by routine childhood immunisation are presented in Table 1.
2. For HIV and AIDS, see Tables 6 and 7.
3. No notifications have been received during 2000 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. NT, Qld, SA and Vic: includes gonococcal neonatal ophthalmia.
8. Unspecified numbers should be interpreted with some caution as the magnitude may be a reflection of the numbers of testings being carried out.
9. Includes hepatitis D and E.
10. Infections with Shiga-like toxin (verotoxin) producing E. Coli (SLTEC/VTEC).
11. Includes congenital syphilis.
12. NSW, Qld: includes paratyphoid.
NN Not Notifiable.
NEC Not Elsewhere Classified.
- Elsewhere Classified.
* Complete data for gonococcal infection were not received from Victoria this period.

Top of page
Table 3. Virology and serology laboratory reports by contributing laboratories for the reporting period 30 December 1999 to 26 January 2000

State or Territory	Laboratory	This period	Total this period2
Australian Capital Territory	The Canberra Hospital	4	52
New South Wales	Institute of Clinical Pathology and Medical Research, Westmead	1	1
	New Children's Hospital, Westmead	16	24
	Repatriation General Hospital, Concord	0	0
	Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Camperdown	0	0
	South West Area Pathology Service, Liverpool	1	39
Queensland	Queensland Medical Laboratory, West End	597	644
	Townsville General Hospital	0	0
South Australia	Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science, Adelaide	262	314
Tasmania	Northern Tasmanian Pathology Service, Launceston	0	0
	Royal Hobart Hospital, Hobart	0	0
Victoria	Monash Medical Centre, Melbourne	15	19
	Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne	87	142
	Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, Fairfield	0	0
Western Australia	PathCentre Virology, Perth	490	1,189
	Princess Margaret Hospital, Perth	43	38
	Western Diagnostic Pathology	0	0
Total		1,516	2,462

1. The complete list of laboratories reporting for the 12 months, January to December 2000, will appear in every report from January 2000 regardless of whether reports were received in this reporting period. Reports are not always received from all laboratories.
2. Total reports include both reports for the current period and outstanding reports to date.

Top of page
Table 4. Virology and serology laboratory reports by State or Territory¹ for the reporting period 30 December 1999 to 26 January 2000, and total reports for the year²

	State or Territory1								This period 2000	This period 1999	Year to date 20003	Year to date 1999
	ACT	NSW	NT	Qld	SA	Tas	Vic	WA
Measles, mumps, rubella
Measles virus	0	0	0	0	0	-	0	1	1	5	1	4
Mumps virus	0	0	0	0	0	-	0	5	5	4	5	3
Rubella virus	0	0	0	2	1	-	0	2	5	6	4	4
Hepatitis viruses
Hepatitis A virus	0	0	3	2	2	-	1	13	21	37	20	36
Arboviruses
Ross River virus	0	2	36	66	5	-	0	74	183	132	156	128
Barmah Forest virus	0	1	4	14	0	-	0	3	22	20	19	20
Dengue not typed	0	0	17	0	0	-	0	27	44	8	40	7
Flavivirus (unspecified)	0	0	1	1	0	-	0	0	2	9	2	9
Adenoviruses
Adenovirus type 3	0	0	0	0	2	-	0	0	2	2	1	2
Adenovirus type 5	0	0	0	0	1	-	0	0	1	0	1	0
Adenovirus type 40	0	0	0	0	0	-	0	2	2	7	2	6
Adenovirus not typed/pending	0	0	0	1	28	-	8	38	75	107	67	94
Herpes viruses
Herpes virus type 6	0	0	0	0	0	-	0	1	1	0	1	0
Cytomegalovirus	1	1	1	16	32	-	16	24	91	113	79	104
Varicella-zoster virus	0	4	0	37	10	-	8	59	118	197	112	177
Epstein-Barr virus	0	7	4	91	62	-	7	21	192	266	174	257
Other DNA viruses
Molluscum contagiosum	0	0	0	0	0	-	0	1	1	1	1	1
Parvovirus	0	0	0	0	0	-	0	15	15	33	14	32
Picornavirus family
Rhinovirus (all types)	0	5	0	0	0	-	0	10	15	23	12	20
Enterovirus not typed/pending	0	0	0	0	0	-	0	34	34	52	30	47
Ortho/paramyxoviruses
Influenza A virus	0	0	1	6	29	-	0	29	65	54	61	50
Influenza B virus	0	0	0	1	2	-	0	0	3	10	3	10
Parainfluenza virus type 1	0	4	0	0	2	-	0	1	7	2	7	2
Parainfluenza virus type 3	1	0	0	2	5	-	1	23	32	66	29	61
Respiratory syncytial virus	0	6	0	2	5	-	6	26	45	46	39	40
Other RNA viruses
Rotavirus	2	6	0	0	24	-	12	5	49	71	42	61
Other
Chlamydia trachomatis not typed	0	6	31	95	37	-	4	68	241	244	223	231
Chlamydia psittaci	0	0	0	0	0	-	0	2	2	6	1	6
Mycoplasma pneumoniae	0	1	1	26	7	-	9	6	50	114	47	111
Coxiella burnetii (Q fever)	0	2	0	5	1	-	0	0	8	12	8	12
Streptococcus group A	0	2	10	32	0	-	0	0	44	0	41	0
Yersinia enterocolitica	0	0	0	1	0	-	0	0	1	1	1	1
Brucella species	0	0	0	1	0	-	0	0	1	2	1	2
Bordetella pertussis	0	1	0	36	6	-	30	2	75	54	68	54
Legionella longbeachae	0	0	0	0	2	-	0	4	6	8	5	8
Cryptococcus species	0	0	0	0	0	-	1	0	1	0	1	0
Leptospira species	0	0	0	4	0	-	0	0	4	0	3	0
Treponema pallidum	0	2	24	22	0	-	0	1	49	0	46	0
Entamoeba histolytica	0	0	0	1	0	-	0	1	2	0	2	0
Echinococcus granulosus	0	0	0	0	0	-	0	1	1	0	1	0
Total	4	50	133	464	263	-	103	499	1,516	1,712	1,370	1,600

1. State or Territory of postcode, if reported, otherwise State or Territory of reporting laboratory.
2. From January 2000 data presented are for reports with report dates in the current period. Previously reports included all data received in that period.
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.
- No data received this period.

Top of page
Table 5. Australian Sentinel Practice Research Network reports, weeks 1 to 3, 2000

Week number	1		2		3
Week ending on	9 January 2000		16 January 2000		23 January 2000
Doctors reporting	63		59		62
Total encounters	6,040		6,732		7,640
Condition	Reports	Rate per 1,000 encounters	Reports	Rate per 1,000 encounters	Reports	Rate per 1,000 encounters
Influenza	11	1.8	11	1.6	14	1.8
Chickenpox	9	1.5	8	1.2	10	1.3
Gastroenteritis	69	11.4	55	8.2	67	8.8
Gastroenteritis with stool culture	6	1.0	10	1.5	12	1.6
ADT immunisations	32	5.3	51	7.6	62	8.1

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 2000;24:6.

LabVISE is a sentinel reporting scheme. Currently 17 laboratories contribute data on the laboratory identification of viruses and other organisms. This number may change throughout the year. 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 2000;24:10.

ASPREN currently comprises about 120 general practitioners from throughout the country. Between 7,000 and 8,000 consultations are reported each week, with special attention to 14 conditions chosen for sentinel surveillance in 2000. CDI reports the consultation rates for five of these. For further information, including case definitions, see Commun Dis Intell 2000;24:7-8.


This article was published in Communicable Diseases Intelligence Volume 24, No 2, 17 February 2000.