Fortnight 24: 15 November to 28 November 2014

The Communicable Diseases Network Australia holds fortnightly teleconferences to share and evaluate the latest information and developments in communicable diseases surveillance. This report provides a fortnightly summary on diseases of current interest and notifications of Australia's nationally notifiable diseases.

Page last updated: 04 December 2014

Fortnight 24: 15 November to 28 November 2014

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Ross River Virus notifications

Between 15 and 28 November 2014, there were 260 notifications of Ross River virus (RRV) infection, compared with 240 during the previous period and 145 during the same period of last year. During the past quarter there were 1,245 notifications, 1.8 times the quarterly rolling mean of 705.8 notifications (Figure 1).

The national surveillance case definitions for RRV (as for the other alphaviruses Barmah Forest Virus (BFV) and Chikungunya virus) require laboratory definitive evidence. One option for laboratory definitive evidence is virus-specific IgM alone, in the absence of IgM to other alphaviruses. These case definitions may introduce the possibility of false positive diagnoses, where the pre-test probability of infection is low (i.e. where the infection is rare, such as RRV or BFV in metropolitan areas). This has been particularly recognised as a problem for BFV notifications in recent years, with an epidemic of false positive IgM diagnoses.

Figure 1: Notifications of Ross River Virus infection and five year mean, Australia, 2009 to November 2014, by state or territory.

This figure shows the number of notifications of Ross River virus infection by state and territory and the rolling mean in Australia. Increased notifications compared with the five year mean are evident in late 2014 (September to November), but numbers ar

Influenza (laboratory confirmed)

Across all jurisdictions, seasonal influenza activity has continued to decline towards interseasonal levels (figure 2). Nationally, influenza A remains the predominant virus type, although the proportion of influenza B infections has continued to increase in recent weeks across most jurisdictions. Of the subtyped influenza A viruses, there is currently a higher proportion of influenza A(H3N2) detections, compared with influenza A(H1N1)pdm09.

Figure 2: Notifications of laboratory confirmed influenza, Australia, 1 January 2009 to 28 November 2014

Figure 2: Notifications of laboratory confirmed influenza, Australia, 1 January 2009 to 28 November 2014 – refer paragraph above for a detailed description.

Source: National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System, by diagnosis date

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Interpretative Notes

Selected diseases are chosen each fortnight based on either exceeding two standard deviations from the 90 day and/or 365 day five year rolling mean or other disease issues of significance identified during the reporting period. All diseases reported are analysed by notification receive date. Data are extracted each Monday of a CDNA week.

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.

  1. The past quarter (90 day) surveillance period includes the date range 15/11/2014 to 28/11/2014.
  2. The quarterly (90 day) five year rolling mean is the average of 5 intervals of 90 days up to 28/11/2014. The ratio is the notification activity in the past quarter (90 days) compared with the five year rolling mean for the same period.
  3. The past year (365 day) surveillance period includes the date range 15/11/2014 to 28/11/2014.
  4. The yearly (365 day) five year rolling mean is the average of 5 intervals of 365 days up to 28/11/2014. The ratio is the notification activity in the past year (365 days) compared with the five year rolling mean for the same period.

The five year rolling mean and the ratio of notifications compared with the five year rolling mean should be interpreted with caution. Changes in surveillance practice, diagnostic techniques and reporting may contribute to increases or decreases in the total notifications received over a five year period. Ratios are to be taken as a crude measure of current disease activity and may reflect changes in reporting rather than changes in disease activity.

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Table of communicable disease notifications reported to the NNDSS for this fortnight

Please use the scroll bar located at the end of the table below to view all columns.

A copy of the table of communicable disease notifications for this fortnight is also included in the PDF printable version of the NNDSS report.

Notifications of Nationally Notifiable Diseases for the period 15/11/2014 to 28/11/2014

Footnotes:

Ratio of the 90 day prior surveillance period to the past 90 day 5 year rolling mean, or ratio of the 365 day prior surveillance period to the 365 day 5 year rolling mean.

NN = Not Notifiable, NDP = No Data Provided, NEC = Not Elsewhere Classified

Dates used are:

  • Past Quarter (90d prior surveillance period): 31/08/2014 to 28/11/2014
  • Quarterly rolling 5Yr Mean (90d 5Yr Mean):
  • Quarterly rolling 5Yr Mean (90d 5Yr Mean) 1: 31/08/2013 to 28/11/2013
  • Quarterly rolling 5Yr Mean (90d 5Yr Mean) 2: 31/08/2012 to 28/11/2012
  • Quarterly rolling 5Yr Mean (90d 5Yr Mean) 3: 31/08/2011 to 28/11/2011
  • Quarterly rolling 5Yr Mean (90d 5Yr Mean) 4: 31/08/2010 to 28/11/2010
  • Quarterly rolling 5Yr Mean (90d 5Yr Mean) 5: 31/08/2009 to 28/11/2009
  • Past year (365d prior surveillance period): 29/11/2013 to 28/11/2014
  • Yearly rolling 5Yr Mean (365d 5Yr Mean):
  • Yearly rolling 5Yr Mean (365d 5Yr Mean) 1: 29/11/2012 to 28/11/2013
  • Yearly rolling 5Yr Mean (365d 5Yr Mean) 2: 30/11/2011 to 28/11/2012
  • Yearly rolling 5Yr Mean (365d 5Yr Mean) 3: 29/11/2010 to 28/11/2011
  • Yearly rolling 5Yr Mean (365d 5Yr Mean) 4: 29/11/2009 to 28/11/2010
  • Yearly rolling 5Yr Mean (365d 5Yr Mean) 5: 29/11/2008 to 28/11/2009
State or Territory Totals for Australia Historical 90 Day Period Historical 365 Day Period
Disease ACT NSW NT QLD SA TAS VIC WA This
Reporting
Period		 Previous
Reporting
Period		 Same
Reporting
Period
Last Year		 2014 YTD Past
Quarter		 Quarterly
Rolling
5 year
mean		 Ratio
Past
Quarter
/5 year
mean		 Exceeds
Quarterly
rolling
mean +2
SD by		 Past
Year		 Yearly
rolling
5 year
mean		 Ratio
Past
year
/5 year
mean		 Exceeds
Yearly
rolling
mean +2
SD by;
Bloodborne diseases
Hepatitis (NEC) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 - 0 0.0 0.0 -
Hepatitis B (newly acquired) 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 7 4 158 36 54.0 0.7 - 168 211.8 0.8 -
Hepatitis B (unspecified) 8 91 0 41 16 0 53 18 227 278 284 6,064 1,683 1,725.6 1.0 - 6,613 6,798.0 1.0 -
Hepatitis C (newly acquired) 0 2 0 0 0 0 4 1 7 6 18 403 93 100.0 0.9 - 443 419.2 1.1 -
Hepatitis C (unspecified) 4 119 4 118 11 9 61 69 395 412 452 9,454 2,580 2,642.4 1.0 - 10,257 10,390.6 1.0 -
Hepatitis D 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 4 42 8 10.2 0.8 - 48 38.4 1.3 -
Gastrointestinal diseases
Botulism 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.4 0.0 - 1 1.4 0.7 -
Campylobacteriosis 21 NN 11 302 89 33 41 148 645 657 762 16,653 4,019 4,204.2 1.0 - 18,271 16,184.0 1.1 -
Cryptosporidiosis 1 21 3 14 3 0 15 15 72 69 88 2,243 399 297.6 1.3 - 2,502 2,972.0 0.8 -
Haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 21 4 3.4 1.2 - 22 15.4 1.4 -
Hepatitis A 0 6 0 1 1 0 2 1 11 10 6 209 62 74.2 0.8 - 226 266.0 0.8 -
Hepatitis E 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 46 10 5.8 1.7 0.4 52 34.6 1.5 7.8
Listeriosis 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 1 73 20 15.0 1.3 - 82 79.0 1.0 -
STEC, VTEC 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 3 3 7 114 20 32.4 0.6 - 123 121.4 1.0 -
Salmonellosis 9 170 14 198 28 14 176 49 658 569 535 14,646 3,303 2,327.8 1.4 350.1 15,877 11,439.2 1.4 1,878.7
Shigellosis 0 4 4 4 0 0 12 1 25 40 20 948 252 115.2 2.2 118.4 999 548.4 1.8 324.3
Typhoid Fever 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 2 109 27 23.2 1.2 - 127 122.0 1.0 -
Quarantinable diseases
Cholera 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0.6 0.0 - 2 4.2 0.5 -
HPAIH 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 - 0 0.0 0.0 -
Plague 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 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 0.0 - 0 0.0 0.0 -
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 - 0 0.0 0.0 -
Smallpox 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 - 0 0.0 0.0 -
Viral haemorrhagic fever (NEC) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 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 0.0 - 0 0.0 0.0 -
Sexually transmissible infections
Chlamydial infection 46 899 33 828 152 22 1 430 2,411 2,596 3,503 74,845 17,395 18,905.4 0.9 - 81,452 76,327.2 1.1 -
Donovanosis 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.2 0.0 - 1 0.8 1.3 -
Gonococcal infection 4 177 32 105 16 3 85 72 494 616 605 14,331 3,731 3,028.2 1.2 - 15,577 11,716.6 1.3 -
Syphilis - congenital 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 6 3 0.4 7.5 1.5 6 4.4 1.4 -
Syphilis < 2 years 0 3 6 8 0 1 5 3 26 47 60 1,593 379 347.8 1.1 - 1,761 1,399.6 1.3 -
Syphilis > 2 years or unspecified duration 2 15 11 9 3 1 34 1 76 81 59 1,714 469 353.2 1.3 23.5 1,840 1,414.2 1.3 103.2
Vaccine preventable diseases
Diphtheria 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 1 0.0 0.0 - 3 1.0 3.0 -
Haemophilus influenzae type b 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 19 6 3.6 1.7 - 21 18.4 1.1 -
Influenza (laboratory confirmed) 13 99 4 126 160 5 105 79 591 838 976 66,705 25,268 8,175.0 3.1 10,201.4 68,330 34,292.4 2.0 5,205.4
Measles 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 3 6 12 332 30 52.0 0.6 - 343 141.0 2.4 81.7
Mumps 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 5 11 166 32 36.2 0.9 - 177 167.8 1.1 -
Pertussis 4 192 2 36 31 6 300 94 665 673 486 10,225 3,946 7,961.8 0.5 - 11,217 28,561.8 0.4 -
Pneumococcal disease (invasive) 0 18 1 5 1 2 15 8 50 45 66 1,448 441 474.4 0.9 - 1,559 1,696.8 0.9 -
Poliomyelitis 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 - 0 0.0 0.0 -
Rubella 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 3 7.0 0.4 - 17 38.4 0.4 -
Rubella Congenital 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.2 0.0 - 0 0.6 0.0 -
Tetanus 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 3 2 0.8 2.5 - 3 3.8 0.8 -
Varicella zoster (Chickenpox)+ 1 NN 3 3 13 1 1 10 32 54 131 1,765 471 593.8 0.8 - 2,009 1,971.0 1.0 -
Varicella zoster (Shingles)+ 12 NN 7 0 43 7 0 44 113 146 214 4,703 1,095 991.4 1.1 - 5,174 3,825.2 1.4 -
Varicella zoster (Unspecified)+ 6 NN 0 245 39 10 0 64 364 310 413 9,569 2,485 2,123.0 1.2 - 10,455 7,905.4 1.3 153.1
Vectorborne diseases
Arbovirus infection (NEC) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 27 1 3.6 0.3 - 27 13.8 2.0 3.2
Barmah Forest virus infection 0 4 0 13 0 0 0 2 19 11 61 720 98 409.2 0.2 - 856 2,158.6 0.4 -
Dengue virus infection 0 2 0 2 7 1 0 7 19 25 38 1,428 152 217.6 0.7 - 1,548 1,364.2 1.1 -
Japanese encephalitis virus infection 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0.2 5.0 - 1 1.0 1.0 -
Kunjin virus infection 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.2 0.0 - 2 1.4 1.4 -
Malaria 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 2 7 9 17 292 64 97.0 0.7 - 323 421.6 0.8 -
Murray Valley encephalitis virus infection 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 - 0 4.4 0.0 -
Ross River virus infection 0 35 6 143 3 0 17 56 260 240 145 4,792 1,245 705.8 1.8 206.7 5,166 4,792.8 1.1 -
Zoonoses
Anthrax 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 - 0 0.2 0.0 -
Australian bat lyssavirus 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 - 0 0.2 0.0 -
Brucellosis 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 15 2 7.4 0.3 - 18 27.8 0.6 -
Leptospirosis 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 83 9 15.0 0.6 - 87 138.4 0.6 -
Lyssavirus (NEC) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 - 0 0.0 0.0 -
Ornithosis 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 1 4 27 5 21.6 0.2 - 34 67.8 0.5 -
Q fever 0 3 0 4 0 0 0 0 7 18 23 432 93 87.8 1.1 - 461 370.6 1.2 -
Tularaemia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.3 0.0 - 0 0.0 0.0 -
Other bacterial infections
Legionellosis 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 7 10 18 21 378 111 92.8 1.2 - 411 368.6 1.1 -
Leprosy 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 9 2 2.6 0.8 - 9 9.8 0.9 -
Meningococcal disease (invasive) 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 4 9 6 150 57 56.4 1.0 - 158 223.6 0.7 -
Tuberculosis 0 17 0 12 0 0 13 2 44 48 47 1,189 328 380.0 0.9 - 1,298 1,327.6 1.0 -
Totals 131 1,886 143 2,228 618 116 942 1,186 7,250 7,867 9,088 248,171 70,441        266,157       

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