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Teutsch SM, Nunez CA, Morris A, Eslick GD, Khandaker G, Berkhout A, Novakovic D, Brotherton JML, McGregor S, King J, Egilmezer E, Booy R, Jones CA, Rawlinson W, Thorley BR, Elliott EJ. Australian Paediatric Surveillance Unit (APSU) Annual Surveillance Report 2020. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2021; 45. [PMID: 34711146 DOI: 10.33321/cdi.2021.45.59] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Abstract For 27 years, national prospective data on selected rare childhood diseases have been collected monthly by the Australian Paediatric Surveillance Unit (APSU) from paediatricians and other clinical specialists who report cases in children aged up to 16 years. We report here the annual results of APSU surveillance in 2020 for ten rare communicable diseases and complications of communicable diseases, namely: acute flaccid paralysis (AFP); congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection; neonatal herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection; perinatal exposure to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV); paediatric HIV infection; severe complications of seasonal influenza; juvenile onset recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (JoRRP); congenital rubella syndrome; congenital varicella syndrome; and neonatal varicella infection. We describe the results for each disease in the context of the total period of study, including demographics, clinical characteristics, treatment and short-term outcomes. Despite challenges presented by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in 2020, more than 1,400 paediatricians reported regularly to the APSU and an overall monthly reporting rate of > 90% was achieved. The minimum AFP target of 1 case per 100,000 children aged less than 15 years was achieved and there were few cases of vaccine-preventable diseases (JoRRP, rubella, varicella). However, high cases of congenital CMV, neonatal HSV and perinatal exposure to HIV persist. There were no severe complications of seasonal influenza reported for the first time in 13 years. This is consistent with other surveillance data reporting a decline of influenza and other communicable diseases in 2020, and likely reflects the wider effects of public health measures to reduce transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in the Australian community.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suzy M Teutsch
- The Australian Paediatric Surveillance Unit.,The University of Sydney, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Discipline of Child and Adolescent Health, Sydney, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA.,The Sydney Children's Hospitals Network, Westmead, Sydney, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA
| | - Carlos A Nunez
- The Australian Paediatric Surveillance Unit.,The University of Sydney, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Discipline of Child and Adolescent Health, Sydney, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA.,The Sydney Children's Hospitals Network, Westmead, Sydney, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA
| | - Anne Morris
- The Australian Paediatric Surveillance Unit.,The University of Sydney, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Discipline of Child and Adolescent Health, Sydney, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA.,The Sydney Children's Hospitals Network, Westmead, Sydney, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA
| | - Guy D Eslick
- The Australian Paediatric Surveillance Unit.,The University of Sydney, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Discipline of Child and Adolescent Health, Sydney, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA.,The Sydney Children's Hospitals Network, Westmead, Sydney, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA
| | - Gulam Khandaker
- Director of Public Health/Public Health Physician and Director of Medical Research, Central Queensland Hospital and Health Service, Rockhampton, Queensland, AUSTRALIA
| | - Angela Berkhout
- Microbiology Registrar, Microbiology and laboratory services, The Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, AUSTRALIA
| | - Daniel Novakovic
- ENT, Head and Neck Surgeon, Laryngologist, and Director, Dr Liang Voice Program, The University of Sydney, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Central Clinical School, Sydney, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA
| | - Julia M L Brotherton
- Medical Director, VCS Population Health, VCS Foundation, Melbourne, Victoria, AUSTRALIA.,Honorary Principal Fellow, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Victoria, AUSTRALIA
| | - Skye McGregor
- Epidemiologist, The Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA
| | - Jonathan King
- Epidemiologist, The Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA
| | - Ece Egilmezer
- Virology Research Laboratory, Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, Sydney, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA.,UNSW Sydney, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA
| | - Robert Booy
- Senior Professorial Fellow, National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance, Sydney, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA
| | - Cheryl A Jones
- Dean and Head of Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Sydney, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA
| | - William Rawlinson
- Senior Medical Virologist, Director of Serology, Virology and OTDS Laboratories, NSW Health Pathology Randwick, Sydney, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA.,UNSW Sydney, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA
| | - Bruce R Thorley
- Head, National Enterovirus Reference Laboratory and WHO Polio Regional Reference Laboratory, Victorian Infectious Disease Reference Laboratory, Melbourne, Victoria, AUSTRALIA.,The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Melbourne, Victoria, AUSTRALIA
| | - Elizabeth J Elliott
- The University of Sydney, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Discipline of Child and Adolescent Health, Sydney, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA.,The Sydney Children's Hospitals Network, Westmead, Sydney, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA
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