title: Influenza surveillance in Australia: we need to do more than count.
abstract: Laboratory-confirmed influenza is a nationally notifiable disease in Australia. According to notification data, Queensland has experienced more severe influenza seasons than other states and territories. However, this method ignores available denominator data: the number of laboratory tests performed. We propose that negative results of laboratory tests for influenza should be made notifiable, alongside laboratory-confirmed disease, and used to calculate the proportion of positive test results in real-time. Using data from the public health pathology services of three Australian states - Queensland Health laboratories, the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory and Western Australia's PathWest - for 2004 to 2008, we show that incorporating laboratory-negative test data into national surveillance data would add to and improve our understanding of influenza epidemiology.
authors.affiliation: Queensland Paediatric Infectious Diseases Laboratory, Royal Children's Hospital, Brisbane, QLD. sblambert@uq.edu.au
authors.forename: Stephen B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Lambert
authors.forename: Cassandra E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Faux
authors.forename: Kristina A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Grant
authors.forename: Simon H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: Cheryl
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bletchly
authors.forename: Michael G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Catton
authors.forename: David W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Heath A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Kelly
mesh_terms: D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D018563:Disease Notification / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011159:Population Surveillance