Communicable Diseases Surveillance - Part 4

These reports published in Communicable Diseases Intelligence Volume 22, Number 5, 14 May 1998, contain information and data from the HIV and AIDS surveillance (1 to 30 November 1997) and Serious Adverse Events Following Vaccination surveillance (16 December 1997 to 27 April 1998).

Page last updated: 14 May 1998

A print friendly PDF version is available from this Communicable Diseases Intelligence issue's table of contents.



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HIV and AIDS Surveillance

National surveillance for HIV disease is coordinated by the National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research (NCHECR), in collaboration with State and Territory health authorities and the Commonwealth of Australia. Cases of HIV infection are notified to the National HIV Database on the first occasion of diagnosis in Australia, by either the diagnosing laboratory (ACT, New South Wales, Tasmania, Victoria) or by a combination of laboratory and doctor sources (Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia). Cases of AIDS are notified through the State and Territory health authorities to the National AIDS Registry. Diagnoses of both HIV infection and AIDS are notified with the person's date of birth and name code, to minimise duplicate notifications while maintaining confidentiality.

Tabulations of diagnoses of HIV infection and AIDS are based on data available three months after the end of the reporting interval indicated, to allow for reporting delay and to incorporate newly available information. More detailed information on diagnoses of HIV infection and AIDS is published in the quarterly Australian HIV Surveillance Report, available from the National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research, 376 Victoria Street, Darlinghurst NSW 2010. Telephone: (02) 9332 4648 Facsimile: (02) 9332 1837.

HIV and AIDS diagnoses and deaths following AIDS reported for November 1997, as reported to 28 February 1998, are included in this issue of Commun Dis Intell (Tables 7 and 8).

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Table 7. New diagnoses of HIV infection, new diagnoses of AIDS and deaths following AIDS occurring in the period 1 to 30 November 1997, by sex and State or Territory of diagnosis

    State or territory Totals for Australia
ACT NSW NT Qld SA Tas Vic WA This period 1997 This period 1996 Year to date 1997 Year to date 1996
HIV diagnoses Female
0
4
1
2
0
0
0
1
8
4
72
63
Male
0
27
1
4
4
0
12
2
50
59
641
730
Sex not reported
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
14
5
Total1
0
31
2
6
4
0
12
3
58
63
728
799
AIDS diagnoses Female
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
22
29
Male
0
9
0
4
0
0
6
1
20
30
268
572
Total1
0
9
0
4
0
0
6
1
20
33
290
601
AIDS deaths Female
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
2
1
13
16
Male
0
2
0
0
0
0
5
1
8
40
197
453
Total1
0
2
0
1
0
0
5
2
10
41
211
469

1. Persons whose sex was reported as transgender are included in the totals.


Table 8. Cumulative diagnoses of HIV infection, AIDS and deaths following AIDS since the introduction of HIV antibody testing to 30 November 1997, by sex and State or Territory

  ACT NSW NT Qld SA Tas Vic WA Australia
HIV diagnoses Female
21
493
8
113
46
4
186
79
950
Male
180
10,472
92
1,776
623
78
3,593
828
17,642
Sex not reported
0
2,057
0
1
0
0
28
1
2,087
Total1
201
13,035
100
1,895
669
82
3,816
911
20,709
AIDS diagnoses Female
7
157
0
42
19
2
61
23
311
Male
80
4,311
30
749
318
41
1,512
334
7,375
Total1
87
4,479
30
793
337
43
1,580
359
7,708
AIDS deaths Female
2
112
0
28
14
2
43
15
216
Male
52
3,027
23
522
214
26
1,196
241
5,301
Total1
54
3,146
23
552
228
28
1,245
257
5,533

1. Persons whose sex was reported as transgender are included in the totals.


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Serious Adverse Events Following Vaccination Surveillance Scheme

The Serious Adverse Events Following Vaccination Surveillance Scheme is a national surveillance scheme which monitors the serious adverse events that occur rarely following vaccination. More details of the scheme were published in CDI 1997:21;8.

Acceptance of a report does not imply a causal relationship between administration of the vaccine and the medical outcome, or that the report has been verified as to the accuracy of its contents.

It is estimated that 250,000 doses of vaccines are administered every month to Australian children under the age of six years.

Results for the reporting period 16 December, 1997 to 27 April, 1998

There were 115 reports of serious adverse events following vaccination for this reporting period. Onset dates were from 1996 to 1998 the majority (68%) being in 1997. Reports were received from the Australian Capital Territory (8), the Northern Territory (9), Queensland (50), South Australia (20) and Victoria (28). No reports were available from New South Wales for this period.

The most frequently reported events following vaccination were of persistent screaming (42 cases, 37%), other events (25 cases, 22%) and hypotonic/hyporesponsive episodes (18 cases, 16%). The type of adverse event was not specified in two cases. There was also incomplete information on follow-up of two cases. All of the other cases had recovered at the time of reporting. Twenty of the 115 cases were hospitalised.

Ninety-three adverse events (81%) were associated with DTP either alone or in combination with other vaccines. Of these, 47 reports were associated with the first dose of DTP and 26 with the second dose.

A cluster of side effects associated with BCG vaccine was observed in South Australia. During this reporting period, of the 22 cases for which the adverse event was categorised as 'other', 8 had lymphadenitis associated with BCG immunisation. Since March 1995, there have been 15 cases that have had adverse events related to BCG vaccine. Of the 15 cases, 14 were reported from South Australia and one from Northern Territory. Of the 14 cases from South Australia, 12 had lymphadenitis and two had an unspecified event. The case from Northern Territory was reported to have had drowsiness.

This clustering of cases in South Australia raises the possibility of increased incidence of lymphadenitis associated with the change in the formulation of BCG vaccine introduced in 1996. While the clustering of cases in South Australia could be associated with a particular batch of BCG vaccine, the absence of data from other States and Territories and incomplete information on batch numbers from South Australia does not allow any conclusions to be drawn. South Australia has had active surveillance for this side effect associated with BCG vaccination since they first became aware of this. This may explain the high number of cases identified in South Australia. We encourage doctors and State health authorities to report any serious adverse events associated with BCG vaccine.

This cluster of adverse events is under investigation by Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) and the sponsor and a full report will be published in CDI.

Table 9. Adverse events following vaccination for the period 16 December 1997 to 27 April 1998

Event
Vaccines
DTP DTP/ Hib DTP/ OPV/ Hib Hib DTP/ OPV DTP/ Hib/ Other MMR OPV/ Other Hep B Other1 Reporting states or territories Total reports for this period
Persistent screaming
27
11
1
2
1
ACT, NT, Qld, SA, Vic
42
Hypotonic/ hyporesponsive episode
5
7
2
2
1
1
Qld, SA, Vic
18
Temperature of 40.5°C or more
8
6
1
ACT, NT, Qld, Vic
15
Convulsions
2
1
2
1
1
2
1
NT, Qld, SA, Vic
10
Anaphylaxis
1
1
Qld, Vic
2
Shock
1
Vic
1
Death
 
0
Other
5
1
5
1
2
3
8
NT, Qld, SA,Vic
25
Total
48
2
32
2
5
5
4
1
3
11
 
1132

1. Includes influenza vaccination, DTPa, CDT, hepatitis B vaccine, pneumococcal vaccination, BCG, ADT and rabies immunoglobulin (HRIG)
2. Two cases had unspecified events


These reports were published in Communicable Diseases Intelligence Vol 22 No 5, 14 May 1998.

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This issue - Vol 22 No 5, May 1998