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

Ming Lin,¹ Paul Roche,¹ Jenean Spencer,¹ Alison Milton,¹ Phil Wright,¹ David Witteveen,¹ Robyn Leader,¹ Angela Merianos,¹ Chris Bunn,² Heather Gidding,³ John Kaldor,⁴ Martyn Kirk,⁵ Rob Hall,⁶ Tony Della-Porta⁷

With contributions from:
National organisations

• Communicable Diseases Network Australia
• Australian Childhood Immunisation Register
• Australian Gonococcal Surveillance Programme
• Australian Meningococcal Surveillance Programme
• Australian Sentinel Practice Research Network
• Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service
• National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research
• National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance of Vaccine Preventable Diseases
• National Enteric Pathogens Surveillance Scheme
• National Rotavirus Research Centre
• Sentinel Chicken Surveillance Programme
• The National Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Registry
• World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza

State and Territory health departments

• Communicable Diseases Control Unit, Australian Capital Territory Department of Health and Community Care, Australian Capital Territory
• Communicable Diseases Surveillance and Control Unit, New South Wales Health Department, New South Wales
• Centre for Disease Control, Northern Territory Department of Health and Community Services, Northern Territory
• Communicable Diseases Unit, Queensland Health, Queensland
• Communicable Diseases Control Branch, South Australian Health Commission, South Australia
• Communicable Diseases Surveillance, Department of Health and Human Services, Tasmania
• Communicable Diseases Section, Department of Human Services, Victoria
• Communicable Diseases Control Branch, Health Department of Western Australia, Western Australia

Abstract

In 2000, there were 89,740 notifications of communicable diseases in Australia collected by the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS). The number of notifications in 2000 was an increase of 5.9 per cent over those reported in 1999 (84,743) and the largest reporting year since the NNDSS commenced in 1991. Notifications in 2000 consisted of 28,341 bloodborne infections (32% of total), 24,319 sexually transmitted infections (27%), 21,303 gastrointestinal infections (24%), 6,617 vaccine preventable infections (7%), 6,069 vectorborne infections (7%), 2,121 other bacterial infections (legionellosis, meningococcal infection, leprosy and tuberculosis) (2%), 969 zoonotic infections (1%) and only one case of a quarantinable infection. Steep declines in some childhood vaccine preventable diseases such as Haemophilus influenzae type b, measles, mumps and rubella, continued in 2000. In contrast, notifications of pertussis and legionellosis increased sharply in the year. Notifications of bloodborne viral diseases (particularly hepatitis B and hepatitis C) and some sexually transmitted infections such as chlamydia, continue to increase in Australia. This report also summarises data on communicable diseases from other surveillance systems including the Laboratory Virology and Serology Surveillance Scheme (LabVISE) and sentinel general practitioner schemes. In addition this report comments on other important developments in communicable disease control in Australia in 2000. Commun Dis Intell 2002;26:118-203.

Top of page

Author affiliations

1. Surveillance and Epidemiology Section, Department of Health and Ageing, Australian Capital Territory.

2. Principal Veterinary Officer, Animal Health and Welfare Branch, Bureau of Resources Sciences, Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestries, Australian Capital Territory.

3. Epidemiology Research Officer, National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance of Vaccine Preventable Diseases, New South Wales.

4. Deputy Director, National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research, New South Wales.

5. Director, Communicable Disease Control Branch, Department of Human Services, South Australia.

6. Coordinating Epidemiologist, OzFoodNet, Australian New Zealand Food Authority and Department of Health and Ageing, Australian Capital Territory.

7. Manager, Technical and Support Services, Australian Animal Health Laboratory, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation,

Corresponding author: Dr Ming Lin, Epidemiologist, Surveillance and Epidemiology Section, Department of Health and Ageing, PO Box 9848 (MDP 6), Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, 2601. Telephone: +61 2 6289 7304. Facsimile: +61 2 6289 7791. E-mail: ming.lin@health.gov.au.


This article was published in Communicable Diseases Intelligence Volume 26, No 2, June 2002