title: ASPREN surveillance system for influenza-like illness - A comparison with FluTracking and the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  General practitioners play an important role in the detection and clinical management of influenza. The Australian Sentinel Practice Research Network (ASPREN) has been collecting data from sentinel GPs on selected conditions, including influenza-like illness (ILI), since 1991 to inform public health authorities of communicable disease activity in the community.
  
  
  METHODS
  Weekly incidence of ILI data reported by ASPREN GPs in 2007-2008 was compared with data from two separate surveillance systems: New South Wales data from FluTracking, an online self reporting ILI surveillance system; and national laboratory notifications of influenza reported to the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System between 2003 and 2008.
  
  
  RESULTS
  ASPREN recorded peak ILI rates of 47 per 1000 consultations in week 30 (ending 29 July) 2007 and 34 per 1000 consultations in week 36 (ending 7 September) 2008. Similar trends in incidence were seen in FluTracking cough and fever rates, ASPREN data in New South Wales and National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System laboratory notifications.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Data captured by the three separate surveillance systems provide complementary information regarding influenza in the Australian population.
authors.affiliation: ASPREN. adriana.parrella@adelaide.edu.au
authors.forename: Adriana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Parrella
authors.forename: Craig B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Dalton
authors.forename: Rodney
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pearce
authors.forename: John C B
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Litt
authors.forename: Nigel
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Stocks
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D018563:Disease Notification / Q000379:methods*; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D017053:Infection Control / Q000379:methods*; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009517:New South Wales / Q000453:epidemiology; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods*; D011634:Public Health; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult