This 10-year surveillance report provides a comprehensive overview of viral and non-viral pathogen identifications in Australia, highlighting the predominant burden of respiratory and genital infections.
Historical surveillance data establish a 1990s baseline for Australian pathogen reports; leaves open whether patterns persist with modern diagnostics and epidemiology.
Between 1991 and 2000, the Laboratory Virology and Serology Surveillance Scheme (LabVISE) received 340,730 laboratory reports of viral and non-viral pathogen identifications. In this report, data on 136 viruses and 31 non-viral pathogens is analysed. The age and sex distribution and seasonal fluctuations in infections are described. The major clinical diseases associated with LabVISE pathogens are reviewed together with a survey of recent activity reported in Australia. The contribution of LabVISE over the 10-year period to surveillance of poliomyelitis in Australia, up to and beyond the eradication goal, is described. The contribution of LabVISE to influenza surveillance and control in Australia is also described. Prospects for the continued role of LabVISE in the surveillance and control of viral meningitis, viral gastroenteritis and viral respiratory diseases are reviewed.
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Roche et al. (2002) studied this question.