Influenza Activity Surveillance & Graph 2024
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This report provides a summary of influenza surveillance data collected from around Australia and New Zealand. Regional reporting in some areas ceases when influenza activity is low (out of season). Please note that many people do not get tested for influenza and that there may also be some delays in reporting confirmed influenza cases.
Therefore data presented here may be underestimating influenza activity.
National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS)
Update for 18 March 2024
It is important to note that data reported from the various influenza surveillance systems may not represent an accurate reflection of influenza activity. There may be some delays in the reporting systems. Also, many who become unwell with influenza-like symptoms do not present to their doctor and are not tested for influenza.
Results should be interpreted with caution.
National notification data (NNDSS):
There have been 24,019 notifications of laboratory confirmed influenza reported to the NNDSS in the year to 18 March.
Total notifications from each state and territory are as follows:
ACT: 363
NSW: 9,779
NT: 143
QLD: 6,302
SA: 1,426
TAS: 172
VIC: 4,468
WA: 1,366
For more national data: National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS)
Australian Influenza Surveillance Report
https://nindss.health.gov.au/pbi-dashboard/
National Vaccination Coverage Rates
Influenza vaccination is recommended for all Australians aged 6 months and older. Flu vaccination reporting to the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) is mandatory allowing coverage rates to be monitored.
In 2022, 38.7% of all Australian aged over 6 months have received at least one dose of influenza vaccine by 31st August 2022.
Monitoring of influenza vaccination coverage has now ended for 2023.
NCIRS continuously monitors influenza vaccination coverage data and will update the information below each week until the end of the 2024 influenza season.
Reporting for the 2024 season has not started.
For more information visit NCIRS here
Australian Capital Territory
There is currently no data available for influenza surveillance in the Australian Capital Territory.
New South Wales
Weekly influenza information is available in the COVID-19 weekly surveillance report.
Week ending 09 2024
Note that many people with influenza in the community do not get tested for influenza, and that there may be delays in the reporting of confirmed influenza cases. Therefore data presented here may tend to under-represent current influenza activity in NSW.
Summary:
- Influenza activity is low though there is still evidence
of continued community circulation. - There was a increase of 6.0% in influenza notifications.
For more information: NSW Health – Respiratory Surveillance Reports
Queensland
10 March 2024
Total influenza cases YTD (1 Jan – 10 Mar 2024): 5318
South Australia
Update for the week ending at 09 March 2024
Count of influenza notifications in the week ending 09 March 2024: 189
For more information: Communicable Diseases Control Branch
Tasmania
Report for the fortnight ending 10 March 2024
Influenza and RSV activities are currently at inter-seasonal levels. Due to low activity, detailed analyses of notifications were not conducted for this report.
For more information: https://www.health.tas.gov.au/publications/respiratory-surveillance-report
Victoria
There is currently no data available for influenza surveillance in Victoria.
For more information: Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory or Victorian State Health Department
Western Australia
Week ending 10 March 2024
Influenza and Influenza-like Illnesses (ILI) Summary:
- In the past week, indicators of ILI activity increased, including influenza notifications to the Department of Health.
- The number of influenza cases notified to the Department of Health increased by 13% to 149 cases
but remained below the seasonal threshold. - The influenza PCR test positivity remained low at 3.7% (37 detections) at PathWest in the past week.
- PathWest reported 37 influenza detections in the past week, which included 13 A/H1, 13 A/H3, 9
influenza A not yet subtyped and 2 influenza B.
For more information: WA Virus WAtch
Australian Sentinel Practices Research Network (ASPREN), FluTracking and New Zealand
Update for 15th January – 28th January
ASPREN is a national syndromic surveillance program co-ordinated by the Discipline of General Practice at the University of Adelaide and The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. One of the conditions under surveillance is influenza like illness (ILI). General practitioners participating in the ASPREN program contribute data on the proportion of consultations which are ILI related.
NATIONAL SUMMARY
Influenza-like-illness levels are decreasing.
0 Cases of influenza have been detected in this reporting period:
- 0 x Influenza A
- 0 x Influenza B
0% Influenza positivity during the reporting period.
3 Cases of influenza have been detected this year:
- 3 x Influenza A
- 0 x Influenza B
SYNDROMIC SURVEILLANCE REPORTING
Reports were received from 235 reporters from 8 states and territories during the reporting period. During weeks 3 and 4
reporters saw a total of 34,404 patients.
INFLUENZA-LIKE-ILLNESS (ILI)
Nationally, ILI notifications decreased during the period with 91 notifications being reported in weeks 3—4. ILI rates reported in this period were 3 cases per 1000 consultations (weighted). This was lower than the previous fortnight where rates were 5 and 4 cases per 1000 consultations in weeks 1 and 2 respectively. For the same reporting period in 2023, ILI rates were lower at 1 cases per 1000 consultations for weeks 3 and 4.
FluTracking
FluTracking is an online health surveillance system which aims to detect epidemics of influenza. It is a joint initiative of The University of Newcastle, Hunter New England Area Health Service (NSW Health) and Hunter Medical Research Institute. Participation is voluntary and involves the completion of a weekly online survey during the influenza season. Data are collected on basic demographics, symptoms of ILI and absenteeism.
Week ending 10 March 2024
(Data received up to 09:00 AM, Thursday 14 March)
Respiratory illness levels have increased this week.
Respiratory illness activity*:
*Respiratory illness activity is defined as fever & cough for this report
1.3% this week and 1.2% last week.
Respiratory illness activity among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participants:
0.5% this week and 0.9% last week.
Respiratory illness severity:
24.1% of participants with fever and cough sought medical advice this week.
New Zealand
Week ending 25 February 2024
Summary
This dashboard is currently being updated monthly.
ndicators of influenza like illness in the community remain low. The rate of ILI related Healthline calls decreased in the second week of February but have increase over the past two weeks. ILI related healthline are currently below the rates seen at the same time in 2023.
The percentage of FluTracking participants with fever and cough has been increasing since the end of January and is slightly above the percentage seen at the same time in 2023.
The hospitalisation rate for severe acute respiratory illness (SARI) in the Auckland region is higher than this time in previous years, but remains slightly below the baseline seasonal threshold. The influenza-positive SARI hospitalisation rate is below the baseline seasonal level and similar to this time in 2023, while the SARS-CoV-2 positive SARI hospitalisation rate is higher than the same period last year. This does not reflect trends in all COVID-19 related hospital admissions monitored by Te Whatu Ora which uses different definitions.
ASPREN: For more information: ASPREN
Flu Tracking: For more information, or to enrol: Flu Tracking
New Zealand reporting: For more information see here