Influenza surveillance in Australia: we need to do more than count.
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.
Lambert
Stephen B
SB
Queensland Paediatric Infectious Diseases Laboratory, Royal Children's Hospital, Brisbane, QLD. sblambert@uq.edu.au
Faux
Cassandra E
CE
Grant
Kristina A
KA
Williams
Simon H
SH
Bletchly
Cheryl
C
Catton
Michael G
MG
Smith
David W
DW
Kelly
Heath A
HA
D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D018563:Disease Notification / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011159:Population Surveillance