An Evaluation of the Australian Sentinel Practice Research Network (ASPREN) surveillance for influenza-like illness
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33321/cdi.2005.29.22Keywords:
evaluation, influenza, disease surveillance, biosecurity, ASPRENAbstract
The Australian Sentinel Practice Research Network (ASPREN) is a national network of general practitioners (GPs) who collect and report data on selected conditions, including influenza-like illness (ILI). The Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing initiated an evaluation of ASPREN, aiming to assess its potential to contribute to surveillance of emerging infectious diseases including pandemic influenza. System attributes and utility for decision-making were elucidated from stakeholder surveys. ASPREN ILI data for 2002 to 2004 were compared with ILI data from South Australia and New South Wales. In 2004, 50 GPs participated in the ASPREN surveillance, with proportionately more in New South Wales (30%) and South Australia (30%) than in other states. The majority (78%) of GPs were in metropolitan practices. Compliance with the manual data collection system was not optimal, nor consistent by state. ASPREN ILI data compared favourably with that of other surveillance systems. No formal structures were in place by which to assess data trends, provide alerts or initiate public health action. To maximise the contribution to biosecurity surveillance, ASPREN would require targeted GP recruitment to achieve geographic representativeness; exploration of alternative technologies for data collection and reporting; provision of committed resources adequate for system operation; and negotiation with state-based public health reference laboratories to provide laboratory support. The main potential of ASPREN is to permit rapid dissemination of a syndromic case definition and acquisition of nationwide community level clinical presentation data. These evaluation findings will be used to inform redevelopment of ASPREN as part of the Biosecurity Surveillance System project. Commun Dis Intell 2005;29:231–247.
Downloads
References
Influenza Pandemic Planning Committee of the Communicable Diseases Network Australia New Zealand. A Framework for an Australian Influenza Pandemic Plan. Canberra: Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care; 1999.
Hampson AW. Surveillance for pandemic influenza. J Infect Dis 1997;176 Suppl 1:S8–13.
Ungchusak K, Auewarakul P, Dowell SF, Kitphati R, Auwanit W, Puthavathana P, et al. Probable person-to-person transmission of avian influenza A (H5N1). N Engl J Med 2005;352:333–340.
World Health Organization. Global Influenza Surveillance. Geneva. 2005.Available from: http://www.who.int/csr/disease/influenza/en/ Accessed:21 February 2005.
Watts C, Kelly H. Fragmentation of influenza surveillance in Australia. Commun Dis Intell 2002;26:8–13. Erratum in: Commun Dis Intell 2002;26:288.
Communicable Diseases Network Australia. Interim Surveillance Case Definitions for the Australian National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System. Canberra. 2004. Available from: http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/cda-surveil-nndss-casedefs-cd_flu.htm
Miller M, Roche P, Spencer J, Deeble M. Evaluation of Australia's National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System. Commun Dis Intell 2004;28:311–323.
Roche P, Halliday L, O'Brien E, Spencer J. The Laboratory Virology and Serology Reporting Scheme, 1991 to 2000. Commun Dis Intell 2002;26:323–374.
Thursky K, Cordova SP, Smith D, Kelly H. Working towards a simple case definition for influenza surveillance. J Clin Virol 2003;27:170–179.
Kelly H, Murphy A, Leong W, Leydon J, Tresise P, Gerrard M, et al. Laboratory-supported influenza surveillance in Victorian sentinel general practices. Commun Dis Intell 2000;24:379–383.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Updated Guidelines for Evaluating Public Health Surveillance Systems. Recommendations from the Guidelines Working Group. MMWR Recomm Rep 2001;50(RR–13).
Buehler JW, Hopkins RS, Overhage JM, Sosin DM, Tong V, CDC Working Group. Framework for evaluating public health surveillance systems for early detection of outbreaks: recommendations from the CDC Working Group. MMWR Recomm Rep 2004;53(RR–5):1–11.
Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. Australian Metropolitan Postcodes. Canberra. 2004. Available from: http://www.affa.gov.au/corporate_docs/publications/pdf/quarantine/border/ch4sec12.pdf Accessed on 24 February 2005.
Australian Bureau of Statistics. Estimated Resident Population, States and Territories. Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics 8 December 2004. Report No.: 3201.0.
Australian Bureau of Statistics. National Regional Profile. 2004. Available from: http://www.abs.gov.au/Ausstats/abs@.nsf/0/C8C6AEE630ACC105CA256E5C0016FFAA?Open Accessed on 24 February 2005.
Hogan D. Evaluation of the New South Wales Influenza Surveillance System [MSc Thesis]. Master of Applied Epidemiology, National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Canberra: Australian National University; 2004.
Hundy R. Surveillance of Influenza using Emergency Department (ED) Data Collected on the HASS ED System in Metropolitan Adelaide [MSc Thesis]. Masters of Applied Epidemiology, National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Canberra: Australian National University; 2003.
Cordova SP. Analysis of laboratory-based influenza surveillance in Western Australia, 1997–1999 [MSc Thesis]. Master of Applied Epidemiology, National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Canberra: Australian National University; 2000.
Tiong A, Clothier H, Patel M. An Evaluation of the Victorian Influenza Surveillance System. Melbourne: Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory; 2005.
Stocks NP, McElroy H, Sayer GP, Duszynski K. Acute bronchitis in Australian general practice. A prescription too far? Aust Fam Physician 2004;33:91–93.
Wilson I. Australian Sentinel Practice Research Network. Commun Dis Intell 2003;27:123–124.
Yohannes K, Roche P, Hampson A, Miller M, Spencer J. Annual report of the National Influenza Surveillance Scheme, 2003. Commun Dis Intell 2004;28:160–168.
Govaert TM, Dinant GJ, Aretz K, Knottnerus JA. The predictive value of influenza symptomatology in elderly people. Fam Pract 1998;15:16–22.
Turner J, Clothier H, Kaye M, Kelly H. Influenza Surveillance in Victoria, 2004. Commun Dis Intell 2005;29:71–76.
Druce J, Tran T, Kelly H, Kaye M, Chibo D, Kostecki R, et al. Laboratory diagnosis and surveillance of human respiratory viruses by PCR in Victoria, Australia, 2002–2003. J Med Virol 2005;75:122–129.
Call SA, Vollenweider MA, Hornung CA, Simel DL, McKinney WP. Does this patient have influenza? JAMA 2005;293:987–997.
Hannoun C. Case definition for influenza surveillance. Eur J Epidemiol 2003;18:737–738.
Yuen KY, Chan PK, Peiris M, Tsang DN, Que TL, Shortridge KF, et al. Clinical features and rapid viral diagnosis of human disease associated with avian influenza A H5N1 virus. Lancet 1998;351:467–471.
de Jong MD, Bach VC, Phan TQ, Vo MH, Tran TT, Nguyen BH, et al. Fatal avian influenza A (H5N1) in a child presenting with diarrhea followed by coma. N Engl J Med 2005;352:686–691.
Leung WK, To KF, Chan PK, Chan HL, Wu AK, Lee N, et al. Enteric involvement of severe acute respiratory syndrome-associated coronavirus infection. Gastroenterology 2003;125:1011–1017.
Harcourt SE, Edwards DE, Fleming DM, Smith RL, Smith GE. How representative is the population covered by the RCGP spotter practice scheme? Using Geographical Information Systems to assess. J Public Health (Oxf) 2004;26:88–94.
Turner J, Tran T, Birch C, Kelly H. Higher than normal seasonal influenza activity in Victoria, 2003. Commun Dis Intell 2004;28:175–180.
Jones NF, Marshall R. Evaluation of an electronic general-practitioner-based syndromic surveillance system—Auckland, New Zealand, 2000–2001. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2004;53 Suppl:173–178.
Turner J, Kelly H. A medical locum service as a site for sentinel influenza surveillance. Euro Surveill 2005;10.
Bravata DM, McDonald KM, Smith WM, Rydzak C, Szeto H, Buckeridge DL, et al. Systematic review: surveillance systems for early detection of bioterrorism-related diseases. Ann Intern Med 2004;140:910–922.
Center for Domestic and International Health Security. Syndromic surveillance: An Effective Tool for Detecting Bioterrorism? RAND; Santa Monica, California, 2004. Available from: http://www.rand.org/publications/RB/RB9042/ Accessed on 10 March 2005.
Ashford DA, Kaiser RM, Bales ME, Shutt K, Patrawalla A, McShan A, et al. Planning against biological terrorism: lessons from outbreak investigations. Emerg Infect Dis 2003;9:515–519.
Dato V, Wagner MM, Fapohunda A. How outbreaks of infectious disease are detected: a review of surveillance systems and outbreaks. Public Health Rep 2004;119:464–471. [Review]
Heymann DL, Rodier GR. Hot spots in a wired world: WHO surveillance of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases. Lancet Infect Dis 2001;1:345–353. [Review]
Watts CG, Andrews RM, Druce JD, Kelly HA. Establishing thresholds for influenza surveillance in Victoria. Aust N Z J Public Health 2003;27:409–412.
Birch C, Clothier HJ, Seccull A, Tran T, Catton M, Lambert SB, et al. Human coronavirus OC43 causes influenza-like illness in residents and staff of aged-care facilitieis in Melbourne, Australia. Epidemiol Infect 2005;133:273–277.
van den Hoogen BG, de Jong JC, Groen J, Kuiken T, de Groot R, Fouchier RA, et al. A newly discovered human pneumovirus isolated from young children with respiratory tract disease. Nat Med 2001;7:719–724.
Goddard NL, Kyncl J, Watson JM. Appropriateness of thresholds currently used to describe influenza activity in England. Commun Dis Public Health 2003;6:238–245.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
License
Copyright (c) 2005 Communicable Diseases Intelligence
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
