Australian Influenza Surveillance Report - Influenza Activity as at 17 July 2015

The Australian Influenza Surveillance Report and Activity Updates are compiled from a number of data sources, which are used to monitor influenza activity and severity in the community. These data sources include laboratory-confirmed notifications to NNDSS; influenza associated hospitalisations; sentinel influenza-like illness (ILI) reporting from general practitioners and emergency departments; ILI-related call centre calls and community level surveys; and sentinel laboratory testing results.

Page last updated: 24 July 2015

The Australian Influenza Surveillance Report is published on a fortnightly basis during the influenza season, typically between May and October. Influenza activity updates will be published outside of the seasonal period, with updates also provided during the season. A more in-depth end-of-season report is also published in Communicable Diseases Intelligence journal.

Australian Influenza Surveillance Report - Influenza activity as at 17 July 2015

Summary

  • Most surveillance systems indicate that the influenza season is well underway. It is not an unusual influenza season thus far.
  • All States and Territories have shown increases in influenza activity in recent weeks with the exception of the Northern Territory.
  • The seasonal increase in influenza-like illness (ILI), detected through the sentinel GP ILI surveillance system, appear to have eased. Non-influenza respiratory viruses continue to be the major driver of ILI in the community.
  • In the last fortnight, influenza B has been the dominant influenza type, comprising two thirds of all notifications.
  • Hospitalisations with confirmed influenza have increased in recent weeks, and case counts are similar to numbers seen in 2012 and 2014, and greater than those reported in 2011 and 2013. The proportion of adult patients admitted to ICU is similar to those reported in previous years.
  • Over 400 clinical isolates have been further characterised for similarity with the vaccine components. The influenza A viruses appear to be well matched. Approximately 80% of the influenza B viruses characterised are a match to the trivalent vaccine strain with the remaining influenza B viruses matching the additional strain in the quadrivalent vaccine.

Full Report

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Previous Reports and Updates

Annual Reports

Accessibility Issues

Should you encounter issues in accessing the information contained either on this web page or within the downloadable full reports please email flu (flu@health.gov.au) or contact the Department of Health switchboard on 02 6289 1555 or 1800 020 103.

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