Australian Influenza Surveillance Report No 07 – 13 September to 26 September 2014

• Across all jurisdictions, seasonal influenza activity has continued to decline following recent peaks in activity. In South Australia, where activity has plateaued for several weeks, there has been a decline in the most recent week.
• As at 26 September 2014, there have been 59,867 cases of laboratory confirmed influenza reported, with 5,900 notifications occurring during the report fortnight.
• Nationally influenza A is the predominant influenza virus type. Influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 continues to be the dominant circulating virus subtype in the Northern Territory, South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria while in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory¹, influenza A(H3N2) is the most common virus type. The proportion of influenza A(H3N2) has increased in recent weeks in Queensland and Western Australia where both strains now co-circulate in similar proportions. The usual, late season increase in influenza B infections has also been noted in recent weeks.
• The influenza vaccine is likely to provide good coverage against the currently circulating viruses.
• The number of influenza associated hospitalisations to sentinel sites has declined over the past fortnight, with around 10% of cases admitted directly to ICU. The majority of hospital admissions have been associated influenza A infections and the median age of cases is 51 years.
• The severity of the 2014 influenza season appears to be moderate across most jurisdictions. However, more severe activity was noted in NSW, where influenza A(H3N2) circulated at higher levels and affected people in older age-groups, which has led to a substantial number of outbreaks in aged care facilities.
• The WHO released its recommendations for the composition of the 2015 southern hemisphere influenza season vaccine which includes changes to the A(H3N2) and B vaccine strains.

¹ ACT reports influenza A subtypes as A(H3). Based on national subtyping and characterisation data, these cases are assumed to be A(H3N2).

Full Report

• Australian Influenza Surveillance Report No 07 - 13 September to 26 September 2014 (PDF 1374 KB)
• Australian Influenza Surveillance Report No 07 - 13 September to 26 September 2014 (Word 2289 KB)

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Previous Reports and Updates

• Previous Reports and Updates - 2014
• Previous Reports - 2013
• Previous Reports - 2012
• Previous Reports - 2011
• Previous Reports - 2010
• Previous Reports - 2009

Annual Reports

• National Influenza Surveillance Scheme Annual Reports

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