Health Emergency
Hotline 1802007

Australia’s response and data

Since 17 June 2009 Australia’s response to pandemic (H1N1) 2009 has been guided by the PROTECT phase within the Australian Health Management Plan for Pandemic Influenza (AHMPPI). PROTECT recognises that infection with pandemic (H1N1) 2009 is not as severe as originally envisaged when AHMPPI was written in 2008, and that although this new disease is mild in most cases, it can be severe in some. PROTECT puts greater focus on treating and caring for people in whom the disease may be severe.
Learn more

PROTECT includes guidance for health care providers working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and also for special institutions, including education and childcare facilities; correctional settings; and cruise ships.

Protect Phase Annex to the Australian Health Management Plan for Pandemic Influenza
PROTECT Questions & Answers (PDF 53 KB)

---

Pandemic Phases

It is likely that the development of a pandemic will move through a number of different phases as the virus becomes more adept at infecting humans, and spreads around the globe. Identifying the phase is useful to guide decision-making and to ensure the most appropriate actions are being taken. The World Health Organization (WHO) has a set of pandemic phases (external link) that it uses to describe the global situation (phases 1-6).

The Australian pandemic phases are designed to describe the situation in Australia and to guide Australia's response. Thus, the Australian and the WHO phase may not always be the same.

The Australian phases describe whether the virus is in countries overseas (OS) or in Australia (AUS). Having an Australian system means that actions can be taken in Australia before a change of phase is declared by the WHO. The description of each phase is shown in the following table.

Note: the current phase has been highlighted.

Australian phase	Description
ALERT	A novel virus with pandemic potential causes severe disease in humans who have had contact with infected animals. There is no effective transmission between humans. Novel virus has not arrived in Australia.
DELAY	Novel virus has not arrived in Australia. OS4 Small cluster of cases in one country overseas. OS5 Large cluster(s) of cases in only one or two countries overseas. OS6 Large cluster(s) of cases in more than two countries overseas.
CONTAIN	Pandemic virus has arrived in Australia causing small number of cases and/or small number of clusters.
SUSTAIN	Pandemic virus is established in Australia and spreading in the community.
CONTROL	Customised pandemic vaccine widely available and is beginning to bring the pandemic under control.
RECOVER	Pandemic controlled in Australia but further waves may occur if the virus drifts and/or is re-imported into Australia.

PROTECT

Pandemic virus is mild in most but severe in some and moderate overall. This phase sits alongside CONTAIN and SUSTAIN phases with a greater focus on treating and caring for those more vulnerable to severe outcomes.

Vaccination in PROTECT

Under the AHMPPI (2008) immunisation would normally mark the beginning of the next phase, or CONTROL. However, given the moderate nature of pandemic (H1N1) 2009, and the desirability of continuing current measures under the PROTECT phase, a change to the CONTROL phase will not occur. The PROTECT pandemic immunisation program enhances current efforts to reduce morbidity and mortality in people at increased risk of severe outcomes if infected with the pandemic (H1N1) influenza virus.

• Australian Health Management Plan for Pandemic Influenza (AHMPPI)

---

Australian Influenza Surveillance Reports

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 from May to October. A more in-depth end of season report is also published in Communicable Diseases Intelligence.

• Latest Australian Influenza Surveillance Report
• All Influenza Surveillance reports for 2009 (in PDF format)
• All Influenza Surveillance reports for 2010 (in PDF format)

---

Daily Updates – cases, hospitalisations and deaths

Daily update bulletins track confirmed cases and known hospitalisations and deaths associated with the pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza.

---

Latest News

Links to latest news and to the news items since the outbreak was notified.

If you are having difficulty downloading the PDF document(s) please email webmaster@health.gov.au and we will arrange for an alternative format or a copy to be sent to you.