1887
Rapid communication Open Access
Like 0

Abstract

The coronavirus disease pandemic was declared in March 2020, as the southern hemisphere’s winter approached. Australia expected co-circulation of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, influenza and other seasonal respiratory viruses. However, influenza notifications were 7,029 (March–September) compared with an average 149,832 for the same period in 2015–2019*, despite substantial testing. Restrictions on movement within and into Australia may have temporarily eliminated influenza. Other respiratory pathogens also showed remarkably changed activity in 2020.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2020.25.47.2001847
2020-11-26
2024-11-21
http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2020.25.47.2001847
Loading
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/eurosurveillance/25/47/eurosurv-25-47-3.html?itemId=/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2020.25.47.2001847&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

References

  1. Hale T, Atav T, Hallas L, Kira B, Phillips T, Petherick A, et al. Coronavirus government response tracker 2020. Oxford: University of Oxford; 2020. Available from: https://www.bsg.ox.ac.uk/research/research-projects/coronavirus-government-response-tracker
  2. COVID-19 National Incident Room. COVID-19 Australia: Epidemiology Report 25. Commun Dis Intell. 2020;44:1-35.
  3. Sullivan SG, Pennington K, Raupach J, Franklin LJ, Bareja C, de Kluyver R. A Summary of Influenza Surveillance Systems in Australia, 2015. Canberra: Department of Health; 2015.
  4. Barr IG, Deng YM, Grau ML, Han AX, Gilmour R, Irwin M, et al. Intense interseasonal influenza outbreaks, Australia, 2018/19. Euro Surveill. 2019;24(33).  https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2019.24.33.1900421  PMID: 31431210 
  5. Cheng AC, Holmes M, Dwyer DE, Senanayake S, Cooley L, Irving LB, et al. Influenza epidemiology in patients admitted to sentinel Australian hospitals in 2018: the Influenza Complications Alert Network (FluCAN). Commun Dis Intell (2018). 2019;43:43.  https://doi.org/10.33321/cdi.2019.43.48  PMID: 31738866 
  6. Australian Government Department of Health. Australian Influenza Surveillance Report. No. 12, 2020, 07 September to 20 September 2020. Canberra: Australian Government Department of Health; 2020.
  7. Australia Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Provisional deaths data for measuring changes in patterns of mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic and recovery period. Reference period Jan-Jun 2020. Canberra: ABS; 2020. Available from: https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/health/causes-death/provisional-mortality-statistics/latest-release
  8. Wu A, Mihaylova VT, Landry ML, Foxman EF. Interference between rhinovirus and influenza A virus: a clinical data analysis and experimental infection study. Lancet Microbe. 2020;1(6):e254-62.  https://doi.org/10.1016/S2666-5247(20)30114-2  PMID: 33103132 
  9. Baguelin M, Flasche S, Camacho A, Demiris N, Miller E, Edmunds WJ. Assessing optimal target populations for influenza vaccination programmes: an evidence synthesis and modelling study. PLoS Med. 2013;10(10):e1001527.  https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1001527  PMID: 24115913 
  10. Australian Sentinel Practices Research Network (ASPREN). ASPREN Update No 19. 2020 - 7th September - 20th September 2020. Adelaide: ASPREN; 2020.Available from: https://aspren.dmac.adelaide.edu.au/documents/20714/469323/ASPREN+Update+19+2020/a9549954-12f7-4608-9df4-34b87e2eeaf3?version=1.0
  11. Beard F, Hendry A, Macartney K. Influenza vaccination uptake in our most vulnerable groups: how well are we protecting them in 2019? Commun Dis Intell. 2018;2020:44.
  12. Australian Government Department of Health. National Immunisation Program Schedule: Flu (influenza) vaccines 2020. Canberra: Australian Government Department of Health; 2020. Available from: https://www.health.gov.au/health-topics/immunisation/immunisation-throughout-life/national-immunisation-program-schedule#flu-influenza-vaccines
  13. Therapeutic Goods Administration. TGA Laboratories testing report: Seasonal influenza vaccines - Batch release 2020. Canberra: Australian Government Department of Health; 2020. Available from: https://www.tga.gov.au/node/911783
  14. FluTracking. Weekly Interim Report: Australia, Week Ending 04 October 2020. Newcastle: FluTracking; 2020. Available from: https://www.flutracking.net/Info/Report/202041/AU
  15. Geoghegan JL, Saavedra AF, Duchêne S, Sullivan S, Barr I, Holmes EC. Continental synchronicity of human influenza virus epidemics despite climatic variation. PLoS Pathog. 2018;14(1):e1006780.  https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1006780  PMID: 29324895 
  16. Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System. Influenza Laboratory Surveillance Information - Global circulation of influenza viruses 2020. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2020. Available from: https://apps.who.int/flumart/Default?ReportNo=6
  17. Caini S, Alonso WJ, Séblain CEG, Schellevis F, Paget J. The spatiotemporal characteristics of influenza A and B in the WHO European Region: can one define influenza transmission zones in Europe? Euro Surveill. 2017;22(35):30606.  https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2017.22.35.30606  PMID: 28877844 
  18. Bedford T, Riley S, Barr IG, Broor S, Chadha M, Cox NJ, et al. Global circulation patterns of seasonal influenza viruses vary with antigenic drift. Nature. 2015;523(7559):217-20.  https://doi.org/10.1038/nature14460  PMID: 26053121 
  19. European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). Communicable Diseases Threats Report Week 46, 8-14 November 2020. Stockholm: ECDC; 2020. Available from: https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications-data/communicable-disease-threats-report-8-14-november-2020-week-46
  20. Cohen C. Influenza-SARS-CoV-2 co-circulation: lessons from the Southern hemisphere: the South African Experience. ECCVID: ESCMID Conference on Coronavirus Disease; 23-25 September 2020, online.
/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2020.25.47.2001847
Loading

Data & Media loading...

Submit comment
Close
Comment moderation successfully completed
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error