Australian Influenza Surveillance 2010 - Latest report

The Australian Influenza Report is compiled from a number of data sources, including laboratory-confirmed notifications to NNDSS, sentinel influenza-like illness reporting from General Practitioners and Emergency Departments, workplace absenteeism, and laboratory testing. It is produced weekly. A more in-depth end of season report is also published in Communicable Diseases Intelligence.

Report No. 4
Reporting period 23 to 29 January 2010

Influenza Surveillance Report No. 4 for the week ending 29 January 2010 (PDF 154 KB)

Summary

  • As at 29 January 2010, there have been 37,649 confirmed cases of pandemic (H1N1) 2009 and 191 deaths reported in Australia.
  • National influenza activity remains low and at levels experienced at the same time in previous years as measured by:
    • Influenza-like illness (ILI) presentation rates to General Practitioners;
    • ILI presentations to emergency departments (EDs) in NSW and WA;
    • FluTracking surveillance of ILI;
    • Enquiries to the National Health Call Centre Network (NHCCN); and
    • Absenteeism rates.
  • As at 24 January 2010, the WHO Regional Offices reported at least 14,711 deaths associated with pandemic (H1N1) 2009 worldwide. Much of the Northern Hemisphere passed a peak of pandemic influenza activity between late October and late November 2009. However, virus transmission remains active in several later affected areas, particularly in North Africa, limited areas of Eastern and Southeastern Europe, and in parts of South and East Asia. In the Southern Hemisphere, sporadic cases of pandemic influenza continued to be reported without evidence of sustained community transmission.
  • Pandemic influenza (H1N1) continues to be the predominant circulating influenza virus in nearly all countries where influenza is reported except in China, where there have been outbreaks due to influenza B (48.8% of all influenza positive specimens).
  • The WHO Collaborating Centre in Melbourne has reported that four pandemic (H1N1) 2009 isolates collected in Australia have shown resistance to oseltamivir by enzyme inhibition assay (EIA) and nine pandemic (H1N1) 2009 clinical specimens have shown the H275Y mutation known to confer resistance to oseltamivir.
  • To date, WHO reported that 220 oseltamivir resistant pandemic (H1N1) 2009 viruses had been detected and characterised worldwide. All of these isolates showed the same H275Y mutation but all were sensitive to zanamivir.

Full report in the PDF file above