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Background
General practitioners play an important role in the detection and clinical management of influenza. The Australian Sentinel Practice Research Network (ASPREN) has been collecting data from sentinel GPs on selected conditions, including influenza-like illness (ILI), since 1991 to inform public health authorities of communicable disease activity in the community.
Methods
Weekly incidence of ILI data reported by ASPREN GPs in 2007-2008 was compared with data from two separate surveillance systems: New South Wales data from FluTracking, an online self reporting ILI surveillance system; and national laboratory notifications of influenza reported to the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System between 2003 and 2008.
Results
ASPREN recorded peak ILI rates of 47 per 1000 consultations in week 30 (ending 29 July) 2007 and 34 per 1000 consultations in week 36 (ending 7 September) 2008. Similar trends in incidence were seen in FluTracking cough and fever rates, ASPREN data in New South Wales and National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System laboratory notifications.
Discussion
Data captured by the three separate surveillance systems provide complementary information regarding influenza in the Australian population.
Public health surveillance systems are fundamental to the prevention and control of infectious diseases. Data obtained by sentinel surveillance systems may be used to inform public health decision making, priority setting and subsequent action.1
Seasonal influenza epidemics are a major public health concern globally, resulting in millions of respiratory illnesses and 250 000-500 000 deaths worldwide each year.2 In Australia, several surveillance systems report on influenza epidemiology on a national and jurisdictional level. The Australian Sentinel Practices Research Network (ASPREN) is a clinically based general practitioner sentinel surveillance system that employs the nationally adopted case definition for influenza-like illness (ILI) of fever, cough and fatigue.3 Sentinel practice surveillance systems aim to monitor influenza activity in the community by providing timely and geographic information about seasonal viruses.
Other established Australian influenza surveillance systems currently consist of laboratory confirmed cases of influenza; three jurisdictional GP sentinel practice systems in Western Australia, Victoria and Northern Territory; and emergency department hospital admissions. Alternative methods of tracking influenza include telephone surveys4,5 and internet based systems.6-9 FluTracking is an online self reporting system that records influenza-like symptoms and vaccination status. The National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS) reports laboratory notifications of influenza. Both ASPREN...