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Influenza surveillance in Australia: we need to do more than count
Author(s) -
Lambert Stephen B,
Faux Cassandra E,
Grant Kristina A,
Williams Simon H,
Bletchly Cheryl,
Catton Michael G,
Smith David W,
Kelly Heath A
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2010.tb03741.x
Subject(s) - epidemiology , notifiable disease , public health , environmental health , medicine , epidemiological surveillance , laboratory test , infectious disease (medical specialty) , disease surveillance , public health surveillance , test (biology) , diagnostic test , geography , disease , veterinary medicine , pathology , biology , paleontology , biochemical engineering , engineering
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.