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Results, continued

Table 4a. Notifications and notification rates of communicable diseases, Australia, 1997 to 2001, by state or territory (rate per 100,000 population)*

Disease	Notifications					Rate per 100,000 population
	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001
Bloodborne diseases
Hepatitis B (incident)	269	265	303	395	424	1.5	1.4	1.6	2.1	2.2
Hepatitis B (unspecified) †‡	6,542	6,562	7,164	7,908	8,424	35.7	35.4	38.2	41.7	43.7
Hepatitis C (incident)	154	350	396	441	600	1.0	2.3	2.6	2.9	3.8
Hepatitis C (unspecified) †‡§	17,290	18,075	18,655	19,569	19,586	93.4	96.5	98.4	102.2	100.5
Hepatitis D	-	-	19	27	21	-	-	0.1	0.2	0.1
Hepatitis (NEC)	6	4	0	1	2	<0.1	<0.1	0.0	<0.1	<0.1
Gastrointestinal diseases
Botulism	0	1	0	2	2	0.0	<0.1	0.0	<0.1	<0.1
Campylobacteriosis ||	11,752	13,433	12,657	13,595	16,124	95.9	108.4	100.8	107.1	125.2
Cryptosporidiosis	-	-	-	-	1,615	-	-	-	-	8.3
Haemolytic uraemic syndrome	-	-	23	15	3	-	-	0.1	0.1	<0.1
Hepatitis A	3,044	2,697	1,554	812	530	16.4	13.3	8.2	4.2	2.7
Hepatitis E	-	-	9	10	10	-	-	0.1	0.1	0.1
Listeriosis	73	55	64	67	62	0.4	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3
Salmonellosis	7,054	7,613	7,147	6,151	7,045	38.1	40.7	37.7	32.1	36.2
Shigellosis	795	599	547	487	562	6.5	4.8	4.4	3.8	2.9
SLTEC,VTEC ¶	-	-	47	33	49	-	-	0.3	0.2	0.3
Typhoid	79	60	68	58	84	0.4	0.3	0.4	0.3	0.4
Quarantinable diseases
Cholera	2	4	3	1	4	<0.1	<0.1	<0.1	<0.1	<0.1
Plague	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Rabies	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Viral haemorrhagic fever	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Yellow fever	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Sexually transmissible diseases
Chlamydial infection	9,239	10,927	14,045	16,866	20,026	75.4	88.2	74.1	88.0	102.8
Donovanosis	49	31	17	12	42	0.5	0.3	0.2	0.1	0.2
Gonococcal infection **	4,684	5,469	5,644	5,686	6,158	25.3	29.2	29.8	29.7	31.6
Syphilis ††	1,296	1,683	1,844	1,755	1,421	7.0	9.0	9.7	9.2	7.3
Vaccine preventable diseases
Diphtheria	0	0	0	0	1	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	<0.1
Haemophilus influenzae type b	51	35	40	28	26	0.3	0.2	0.2	0.1	0.1
Laboratory-confirmed influenza	-	-	-	-	1,286	-	-	-	-	6.6
Measles	838	288	238	107	141	4.5	1.5	1.3	0.6	0.7
Mumps	191	182	172	212	114	1.0	1.0	1.1	1.4	0.6
Pertussis	10,825	5,791	4,417	5,942	9,515	58.4	30.9	23.3	31.0	48.8
Invasive pneumococcal disease	-	-	-	-	1,681	-	-	-	-	8.6
Poliomyelitis	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Rubella ‡‡	1,387	753	377	322	263	7.5	4.0	2.0	1.7	1.3
Tetanus	7	8	2	6	3	<0.1	<0.1	<0.1	<0.1	<0.1
Vectorborne diseases
Arbovirus infection (NEC)	19	88	62	69	36	0.1	0.5	0.3	0.4	0.2
Barmah Forest virus infection	691	529	638	634	1,141	3.7	2.8	3.4	3.3	5.9
Dengue	174	579	132	215	176	0.9	3.1	0.7	1.1	0.9
Japanese encephalitis	-	-	-	-	0	-	-	-	-	0.0
Kunjin virus infection	-	-	-	-	4	-	-	-	-	<0.1
Malaria	749	660	732	951	712	4.0	3.5	3.9	5.0	3.7
Murray Valley encephalitis	-	-	-	-	6	-	-	-	-	<0.1
Ross River virus infection	6,596	3,151	4,416	4,200	3,219	35.6	16.8	23.3	21.9	16.5
Zoonoses
Anthrax	-	-	-	-	0	-	-	-	-	0.0
Australian bat lyssavirus	-	-	-	-	0	-	-	-	-	0.0
Brucellosis	39	45	52	27	19	0.2	0.2	0.3	0.1	0.1
Leptospirosis	114	202	323	243	245	0.6	1.1	1.7	1.3	1.3
Ornithosis	35	64	84	100	131	0.4	0.7	0.9	1.1	0.7
Lyssavirus (unspecified)	-	-	-	-	0	-	-	-	-	0.0
Q fever	545	560	515	573	696	2.9	3.0	2.7	3.0	3.6
Other bacterial infections
Legionellosis	157	262	249	472	307	0.8	1.4	1.3	2.5	1.6
Leprosy	12	3	6	4	5	0.1	<0.1	<0.1	<0.1	<0.1
Invasive meningococcal infection	494	480	591	621	677	2.7	2.6	3.1	3.2	3.5
Tuberculosis	989	960	1,143	1,024	989	5.3	5.1	6.0	5.3	5.1
Total	86,241	82,468	84,395	89,641	104,187

* Analysis by date of onset, except for hepatitis B and hepatitis C unspecified, where analysis is by report date. Date of onset is a composite of three components: (i) the true onset date from a clinician, if available, (ii) the date the laboratory test was ordered, or (iii) the date reported to NNDSS.
† Unspecified hepatitis includes cases with hepatitis in whom the duration of illness cannot be determined.
‡ The analysis was performed by report date.
§ Includes incident hepatitis C in the Northern Territory and Queensland.
|| Notified as 'foodborne disease' or 'gastroenteritis in an institution' in New South Wales.
¶ Infections with Shiga-like toxin (verotoxin) producing E. coli. (SLTEC/VTEC).
** Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia: includes gonococcal neonatal ophthalmia.
†† Includes congenital syphilis.
‡‡ Includes congenital rubella.
NEC Not elsewhere classified.
- Elsewhere classified.

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Table 4b. Years from which diseases became notifiable to NNDSS in different jurisdictions in Australia*

Disease	Year in which data first sent to Commonwealth								Period of national reporting	Exceptions to national reporting
	ACT	NSW	NT	Qld	SA	Tas	Vic	WA
Bloodborne diseases
Hepatitis B (incident)	1995	1993	1993	1991	1993	1993	1993	1996	1995 to present	ACT did not report 1994; WA did not report 1994-1995
Hepatitis B (unspecified)	1991	1991	NN	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991 to present	NT does not report
Hepatitis C (incident)	1995	1993	-	-	1993	1995	1997	1997	1993 to present	All jurisdictions except Qld and NT
Hepatitis C (unspecified)	1991	1991	1991	1991	1994	1991	1991	1993	1995 to present	Includes reports of incident hepatitis C, 1991 to 1994
Hepatitis D	1999	1999	1999	1999	1999	1999	1999	2001	1999 to present	WA did not report 1991-2000
Hepatitis (NEC)	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	2001	1991 to present	WA did not report 1991-2000
Gastrointestinal diseases
Botulism	1992	1998	1998	1998	1993	1992	1992	2001	1992 to present	State reporting started as shown
Campylobacteriosis	1991	NN	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991 to present	NSW does not report
Cryptosporidiosis	2001	2001	2001	2001	2001	2001	2001	2001	2001 to present
Haemolytic uraemic syndrome	1999	1999	1999	1999	1999	1999	1999	1999	1999 to present
Hepatitis A	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991 to present
Hepatitis E	1999	1999	1999	1999	1999	1999	1999	2001	1999 to present	WA did not report 1991-2000
Listeriosis	1991	1991	1994	1991	1992	1991	1991	1991	1991 to present	SA did not report 1991 NT did not report 1991-1993
Salmonellosis (NEC)	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991 to present
Shigellosis	1991	2001	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991 to present	NSW did not report 1991-2000
SLTEC, VTEC	1999	1999	1999	2001	1999	1999	1999	2001	1999 to present	Qld and WA did not report 1991-2000
Typhoid1	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991 to present
Quarantinable diseases
Cholera	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991 to present
Plague	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991 to present
Rabies	1993	1997	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991 to present
Viral haemorrhagic fever	1993	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991 to present
Yellow fever	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991 to present
Sexually transmissible diseases
Chlamydial infection	1993	1991	1991	1991	1993	1991	1991	1994	1994 to present	NSW did not report 1994 - 1998
Donovanosis	1991	2002	1991	1991	2002	1993	1991	1991	1991 to present	NSW   and SA did not report 1991-2001 Tasmania did not report 1991-1992
Gonococcal infection2	1991	1993	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991 to present
Syphilis (includes congenital syphilis)	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991 to present
Vaccine preventable diseases
Diphtheria	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991 to present
Haemophilus influenzae type b	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1994	1991 to present	WA did not report 1991-1993
Laboratory-confirmed influenza	2001	2001	2001	2001	2001	2001	2001	2001	2001 to present
Measles	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991 to present
Mumps	1992	1992	1995	1997	1994	1995	1992	1994	1995 to present	Qld did not report (1995-1996 & 1999-2000)
Pertussis	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991 to present
Invasive pneumococcal disease	2001	2001	2001	2001	2001	2001	2001	2001	2001 to present
Poliomyelitis	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991 to present
Rubella (includes congenital rubella)	1991	1991	1993	1991	1993	1995	1992	1994	1993 to present	Tasmania did not report 1993-1994
Tetanus	1991	1991	1991	1994	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991 to present	Qld did not report 1991-1993
Vectorborne diseases
Arbovirus infection (NEC)3	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991 to present	Includes JE, MVE and Kunjin   1991-2000
Barmah Forest virus infection	1995	1995	1997	1995	1995	1995	1995	1996	1995 to present
Dengue	1993	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991 to present	ACT did not report 1991-1992
Japanese encephalitis	2001	2001	2001	2001	2001	2001	2001	2001	2001 to present
Kunjin virus infection	2001	2001	2001	2001	2001	2001	2001	2001	2001 to present	Reported under MVE in ACT
Malaria	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991 to present
Murray Valley encephalitis	2001	2001	2001	2001	2001	2001	2001	2001	2001 to present	Combined with Kunjin in ACT
Ross River virus infection	1993	1993	1991	1991	1993	1993	1991	1993	1993 to present
Zoonoses
Anthrax	2001	2001	2001	2001	2002	2001	2001	2001	2001 to present
Australian bat lyssavirus	2001	2001	2001	2001	2001	2001	2001	2001	2001 to present
Brucellosis	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991 to present
Leptospirosis	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991 to present
Ornithosis	1991	2001	1991	1992	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991 to present	NSW did not report 1991-2000 Qld did not report 1997-2001
Lyssaviruses (unspecified)	2001	2001	2001	2001	2001	2001	2001	2001	2001 to present
Q fever	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991 to present
Other bacterial infections
Legionellosis	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991 to present
Leprosy	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991 to present
Invasive meningococcal infection	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991 to present
Tuberculosis	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991	1991 to present

* Data from NNDSS annual reports from 1991. First full year of reporting to Commonwealth is shown. Some diseases may have been notifiable to State or Territory Health Departments before the dates shown here.
1. Includes paratyphoid in New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria.
2. Includes neonatal ophthalmia in the Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, and Victoria.
3. Before 1997, includes Ross River virus, dengue and Barmah Forest virus infection.
NN Not notifiable in 2001

The number of notifications in 2001 was an increase of 16 per cent on notifications in 2000 (89,740) and the largest number of reports received in any year since the NNDSS commenced in 1991 (Figure 2).

Top of pageFigure 2. Trends in notifications to the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System, Australia, 1991 to 2001



In part the increase in total notifications to NNDSS in 2001 was due to changes in the number of diseases reported. In 2001, nine new diseases were added to the NNDSS and four diseases were removed. The new diseases were cryptosporidiosis, laboratory-confirmed influenza, invasive pneumococcal disease, Japanese encephalitis (JE), Kunjin virus infection, Murray Valley encephalitis virus (MVE) infection, anthrax, Australian bat lyssavirus and other lyssaviruses [not elsewhere classified (NEC)]. While there were no reports for four of these diseases, in 2001 there were 1,615 cases of cryptosporidiosis notified, 1,286 cases of laboratory-confirmed influenza, 1,681 cases of invasive pneumococcal disease, four cases of Kunjin and six cases of MVE. The four diseases removed from the NNDSS schedule in 2001 were yersiniosis, chancroid, lymphogranuloma venereum and hydatid disease, which together accounted for only 100 notifications in 2000.

In 2001, bloodborne virus infections remained the most frequently notified disease (29,057 reports, 27.9% of total), followed by sexually transmitted infections (27,647, 26.5%), gastrointestinal diseases (26,086, 25%), vaccine preventable diseases (13,030, 12.5%), vectorborne diseases (5,294, 5.1%), other bacterial infections (1,978, 1.9%), zoonotic infections (1,091, 1%) and four cases of quarantinable diseases (Figure 3).

Figure 3. Notifications to the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System, Australia, 2001, by disease category

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The major changes in communicable disease notifications in 2001 are shown in Figure 4, as the ratio of notifications in 2001 compared to the mean number of notifications for the previous five years. There were increases in the number of notifications of incident hepatitis C, chlamydial infection, pertussis, Barmah Forest virus (BF) infection and ornithosis and invasive meningococcal disease. There were decreases in the number of notifications of hepatitis A, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) infection, measles, rubella, Ross River virus (RR) infection and brucellosis.

Figure 4. Selected diseases from the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System, comparison of total notifications for 2001 with previous five year means



In the financial year 2000-01, there were 89,318 hospital separations in Australian hospitals with a primary diagnosis of infectious diseases (International Classification of Diseases, version 10, Australian Modification (ICD10-AM) codes A01-B99, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare). This represents 1.5 per cent of all hospital separations in that period. A further 61,035 separations were recorded with a principal diagnosis of influenza or pneumonia (ICD10-AM J10-J18).


This article was published in Communicable Diseases Intelligence Volume 27, No 1, March 2003.