Australian Paediatric Surveillance Unit (APSU) Annual Surveillance Report 2024

Authors

  • Dr Suzy M Teutsch The University of Sydney, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Specialty of Child and Adolescent Health, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; The Australian Paediatric Surveillance Unit, The Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network, Westmead, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
  • Dr Carlos A Nunez The University of Sydney, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Specialty of Child and Adolescent Health, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; The Australian Paediatric Surveillance Unit, The Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network, Westmead, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
  • A/Prof. Anne Morris The University of Sydney, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Specialty of Child and Adolescent Health, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; The Australian Paediatric Surveillance Unit, The Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network, Westmead, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
  • Prof. Elizabeth J Elliott The University of Sydney, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Specialty of Child and Adolescent Health, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; The Australian Paediatric Surveillance Unit, The Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network, Westmead, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33321/cdi.2026.50.007

Keywords:

Australia, child, communicable diseases, emerging infectious diseases, population surveillance, rare diseases

Abstract

Since 1993, the Australian Paediatric Surveillance Unit (APSU) has been conducting prospective national surveillance of rare conditions in Australian children, including communicable diseases and complications of communicable diseases. In 2024, fifteen communicable diseases and complications were under APSU surveillance: acute flaccid paralysis (AFP); congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) infection; dengue; severe acute hepatitis; neonatal/infant herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection; perinatal exposure to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV); paediatric HIV infection, juvenile-onset recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (JoRRP); severe complications of influenza (Flu); Japanese encephalitis virus infection; paediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome temporally associated with SARS-CoV-2 (PIMS-TS); Q fever; congenital rubella infection/syndrome; congenital varicella syndrome; and neonatal varicella infection. A total of 1,350 paediatricians and other child health specialists received the monthly APSU report card (97% electronically) in 2024. A total of 237 notifications were received, with 174 confirmed as incident cases after excluding duplicates, errors and prevalent (historic) cases not previously reported. The incident cases included: Flu (n = 34) – one child died and only two children had received influenza vaccination; JoRRP (n = 1); NVI (n = 1); cCMV (n = 26); HSV (n = 8) – neurological sequelae were common; perinatal exposure to HIV (n = 15) – no cases of mother-to-child transmission identified; and rare emerging diseases dengue (n = 4) and PIMS-TS (n = 2). The non-polio AFP rate of ≥ 1 case per 100,000 children aged < 15 years was again achieved. The APSU continues to be an important mechanism for obtaining enriched data on rare communicable diseases and their complications in Australian children, to better understand disease burden, and the effects of health interventions, over time.

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Published

28/01/26

How to Cite

Teutsch, Suzy, Carlos Nunez, Anne Morris, and Elizabeth Elliott. 2026. “Australian Paediatric Surveillance Unit (APSU) Annual Surveillance Report 2024”. Communicable Diseases Intelligence 50 (January). https://doi.org/10.33321/cdi.2026.50.007.

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Vol. 50 (2026)

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Annual report

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