PDF file - Department of Health and Ageing

National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System, 2004
Annual report
Nationally, notifi cations of the disease remained
stable over the last fi ve years (Figure 24). The male
to female ratio remained at 0.8:1.
Figure 25. Notification rates of shigellosis,
Australia, 2004, by age group and sex
16
Figure 24. Trends in notifications of shigellosis,
Australia, 1999 to 2004, by month of onset
Notifications
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
NSW commenced notifiying shigellosis
Rate per 100,000 population
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
0-4
0-5
10-14
15-19
20-24
25-29
30-34
35-39
40-44
45-49
50-54
55-59
60-64
Age group (years)
65-69
70-74
Male
Female
75-79
80-84
85+
10
0
Jan
1999
Jul
Jan
2000
Jul
Jan
2001
Jul
Jan
2002
Jul
Jan
2003
Jul
Month and year of notification
Jan
2004
Jul
Shiga-like toxin-producing/verotoxigenic
Escherichia coli
Children under the age of four years represented
31 per cent of shigellosis notifi cations (Figure 25).
This age group had a notifi cation rate of 13 cases
per 100,000 population, which is fi ve times the
national rate and an increase of 18 per cent compared
to the rate reported in 2003 (11 cases per
100,000 population).
Indigenous populations continue to have the highest
burden of shigellosis. In 2004, of the notifi cations
of shigellosis where Indigenous status of cases was
complete (64% of all cases) 37 per cent were identifi
ed as Indigenous. In the Northern Territory (where
98% of notifi cations had the Indigenous status of
the case recorded), 82 per cent of shigellosis cases
were Indigenous people.
Shigella fl exneri and Shigella sonnei infections
accounted for about 50 per cent and 48 per cent of
shigellosis, respectively in 2004 (Table 10).
Case defi nitions – Shiga toxin-producing/
verotoxin-producing Escherichia coli
(STEC/VTEC)
Only confirmed cases are reported.
Confirmed case: Requires isolation of
Shiga-toxigenic/verotoxigenic Escherichia coli
from faeces, OR, isolation of Shiga toxin or
verotoxin from a clinical isolate of E. coli OR,
identifi cation of the gene associated with the
production of Shiga toxin or vero toxin in E. coli
by nucleic acid testing on isolate or raw bloody
diarrhoea.
Note: Where STEC/VTEC is isolated in the
context of haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS),
it should be notified as STEC/VTEC and HUS.
Table 10. Shigella infections, Australia, 2004, by serogroup and state or territory
Organism State or territory Total Per
ACT NSW NT Qld SA Tas Vic WA
cent
S. boydii 2 1 1 2 1 7 1.9
S. dysenteriae 1 1 1 3 0.8
S. flexneri 32 16 39 2 28 67 184 49.5
S. sonnei 2 59 30 13 1 37 36 178 47.8
Sub Total 2 94 0 48 53 3 67 105 372 100.0
Unknown 0 2 119 13 1 0 3 8 146 –
Total 2 96 119 61 54 3 70 113 518 –
CDI Vol 30 No 1 2006 33