Editorial: Towards improving influenza surveillance in Australia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33321/cdi.2002.26.1Keywords:
influenza surveillanceAbstract
As winter and the influenza season approaches, the article by Watts and Kelly is timely in highlighting significant deficiencies in the surveillance of influenza in Australia. Watts and Kelly conducted a telephone survey of sentinel practice schemes in August 2001 and found that sentinel influenza surveillance schemes vary in their definition of influenza-like illness (ILI) and in their access to laboratory support. The impact of this is illustrated in a comparison between data from New South Wales and Victorian sentinel practice schemes for 2000 (Figure). In Victoria the rates per 1,000 consultations were almost an order of magnitude lower than in New South Wales, although the number of laboratory reports of influenza in the two States during the same period were very similar.
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References
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