New National Strategy Aims to Improve Surveillance of COVID-19, Influenza, and RSV.
The new plan will focus on scalable and dynamic monitoring of respiratory diseases.
The Australian government has introduced a national plan aimed at monitoring COVID-19, flu, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). This plan aims to improve the authorities’ ability to respond effectively to these viral respiratory diseases.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the government acknowledged the importance of developing cost-effective and scalable surveillance systems capable of adapting to evolving disease dynamics.
Prior to the release of the national plan, reporting for COVID-19 and influenza was conducted separately with different schedules and formats.
Under the new approach, the Australian Respiratory Surveillance Report will replace some discontinued reports and integrate surveillance and epidemiological data on respiratory infections in the country.
“Integrating respiratory virus surveillance for COVID-19, influenza, RSV, and other non-notifiable viral respiratory infections will further enhance Australia’s ability to understand, manage, and mitigate the impact of viral respiratory diseases on Australia’s population and healthcare system,” states the national plan.
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The Interim Australian Centre for Disease Control, the Communicable Diseases Network Australia, and the National Influenza Surveillance Committee are responsible for developing and maintaining this plan. Organizations such as the Public Health Laboratory Network and the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee also play a role in creating and reviewing new versions of the national surveillance plan.
The national plan outlines five surveillance goals, including monitoring trends in cases of the three respiratory diseases, community activities, morbidity and mortality, the impact of the diseases on the health system, and the uptake and effectiveness of interventions.
Authorities will utilize various sources of surveillance data, including community-based systems, primary care, hospitals, and laboratories, as well as notifiable disease data, to get a comprehensive view of disease development.
“All data sources have strengths and limitations, so they need to be used in combination to provide comprehensive information for public health decision-making,” states the national plan.
Over 100,000 COVID-19 Cases Reported in Past Year
According to the latest Australian Respiratory Surveillance Report (pdf), there were 100,370 reported COVID-19 cases in the 12 months leading up to April 2024, indicating a significant decrease compared to previous years.
Between March 25 and April 7, there were 8,614 COVID-19 notifications with a diagnosis in Australia, down from 9,864 in the previous two weeks.
Despite the decline in COVID-19 cases, the report advises against premature optimism due to reduced case ascertainment and reporting in all jurisdictions, including changes in testing and the collection of self-reported rapid antigen test results.
From the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic (Jan 1, 2020) until April 2024, over 11.8 million cases have been reported, with 98 percent of these cases occurring after the emergence of the Omicron variant.
The highest rate of COVID-19 cases was observed in people aged 70 years or older, followed by children aged zero to four years.
