Communicable Diseases Report
Communicable Disease Report 11 June to 17 June 2012
In summary, we report:
- Measles – one new confirmed case
- Influenza and other respiratory illness – increased Emergency Department activity
- Gastroenteritis – Emergency Department activity remains above usual range
- Summary of notifiable conditions activity in NSW
For information on other communicable diseases in NSW, see the A-Z of Infectious diseases and see the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System fortnightly report for Australian data.
Note: click on the heading of each section to see a fact sheet.
Measles [update]
There was one new confirmed measles case retrospectively indentified this week in an unvaccinated teenage sibling of a recently confirmed case. The local Public Health Unit has investigated to identify close contacts and to implement control measures.
NSW Health encourages anyone who has not previously been vaccinated for measles to do so. Children should receive two doses of vaccine, one at 12 months and a booster at 4 years. Anyone born during or after 1966 should have two doses of vaccine, at least 4 weeks apart.
Click on the link for updated measles data.
Influenza and other respiratory illness [update]
Influenza-like Illness Emergency Department Surveillance:
In NSW in the last week, the number of patients presenting with influenza-like illness increased compared with the previous week (Figure 1). Although the number of presentations was small overall, it has risen sharply since the previous week and is unusually high for this time of year. The number of laboratory-confirmed cases of influenza reported this week has also risen sharply this week (Table 1).
Figure 1. Total weekly counts of Emergency Department visits for influenza-like illness, from January – June 2012 (black line), compared with each of the five previous years (coloured lines) excluding 2009, for 59 NSW hospitals.
The number of patients presenting to Emergency Departments with a diagnosis of influenza or pneumonia and who were admitted to critical care wards increased this week, reaching levels similar to peak levels during the previous 5 years (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Total weekly counts of Emergency Department visits for influenza or pneumonia and admitted to critical care wards, from January – June 2012 (black line), compared with each of the five previous years (coloured lines) excluding 2009, for 59 NSW hospitals.
Click on the link for updated influenza information.
All Respiratory Illness Emergency Department Surveillance:
(Includes diagnoses of asthma, cough, pneumonia, influenza and other common respiratory conditions)
The number of patients presenting with any respiratory illness increased compared with the previous week. Excluding 2009, counts were above the usual range for this time of year. In particular, the number of presentations for pneumonia increased since the previous week and remains well above the usual range of this time of year.
Respiratory illness presentations in persons aged 65 years and older are at levels similar to the peak levels seen at any time in the past 5 years including 2009 (Figure 3).
Figure 3. Total weekly counts of Emergency Department visits for any respiratory illness, from January – June 2012 (black line) for persons 65 years and older, compared with each of the five previous years (coloured lines) excluding 2009, for 59 NSW hospitals.
Gastroenteritis [update]
Gastrointestinal Illness Emergency Department Surveillance (includes gastroenteritis, vomiting, diarrhoea, and food poisoning):
In NSW, the number of patients presenting with gastrointestinal illness was steady compared with the previous week. (Figure 4). Counts were above the usual range for this time of year, especially in 5-16 year olds and in Western Sydney LHD.
Figure 4. Total weekly counts of Emergency Department visits for gastrointestinal illness, from January – June 2012 (black line), compared with each of the five previous years (coloured lines), for 59 NSW hospitals.
Norovirus infections are highly contagious and are a leading cause of gastroenteritis in Australia and worldwide. Outbreaks of gastroenteritis due to norovirus become more common during the winter months and typically occur in residential care facilities, hospitals, schools and child care centres. Click on the link for more information on norovirus.
Summary of notifiable conditions activity in NSW [update]
The following table summarises notifiable conditions activity over the reporting period (Table 1). Explanatory notes are included below the table.
Table 1. NSW Notifiable Conditions activity for the period 11 June to 17 June 2012 (by date reported).
Notes on Table 1: NSW Notifiable Conditions activity
- Data cells represent the number of case reports received by NSW Public Health Units and recorded on the NSW Notifiable Conditions Information Management System (NCIMS) in the relevant period.
- Data cells in the ‘Adverse Event Following Immunisation’ category refer to suspected cases only. These reports are referred to the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) for assessment.
- Only conditions for which at least one case report was received appear in the table. HIV and other blood-borne virus case reports are not included here but are available from the Infectious Diseases Data webpage.