Virus WAtch Week Ending 1 February 2015

Influenza and Influenza-like Illnesses (ILI)

Summary: Influenza and non-influenza respiratory virus activity remain low and at inter-seasonal levels.

• ILI presentations to sentinel general practitioners (GPs) and emergency departments (EDs) remain low.
• Routine and sentinel detections of influenza virus remain low, with influenza A/H3N2 constituting the majority of subtyped viruses; influenza A/H1N1 and influenza B continue to co-circulate.
• Detections of non-influenza respiratory viruses increased slightly but remain low overall.

Gastroenteritis

• Presentations to sentinel GPs remain elevated and above levels observed at this time in recent years. Gastroenteritis presentations to sentinel EDs increased this week and exceed baseline level.
• Norovirus detections continue to show signs of decline.

Varicella and Viral Rashes

• Shingles and chickenpox presentations to sentinel EDs are twice baseline levels, as are shingles presentations to GPs.
• No cases of measles or rubella were reported this week. One case of mumps was confirmed in a fly-in fly-out miner to the Pilbara, linked to previous cases at the same worksite.

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