Tuberculosis notifications in Australia, 2014.

In 2014, the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System received 1,339 tuberculosis (TB) notifications, representing a rate of 5.7 per 100,000 population. Australia has achieved and maintained good tuberculosis (TB) control since the mid-1980s, sustaining a low annual TB incidence rate of approximately 5 to 6 cases per 100,000 population. The number of multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB) cases diagnosed in Australia is low by international standards, with approximately 1-2% of notifications per year being classified as MDR-TB. Australia's overseas-born population continued to represent the majority (86%) of TB notifications and Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population continue to record TB rates around 6 times higher than the Australian born non Indigenous population. Whilst Australia has achieved excellent and sustained control of TB in Australia, sustained effort is still required to reduce rates further and contribute to the achievement of the World Health Organization's goal to end the global TB epidemic by 2035.

Long-term Impact of a "3 + 0" Schedule for 7- and 13-Valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccines on Invasive Pneumococcal Disease in Australia, 2002-2014.

BACKGROUND: Australia introduced universal 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7) from 2005, replaced by 13-valent PCV (PCV13) in 2011, uniquely among high-income countries giving doses at 2, 4, and 6 months (3 + 0 schedule). Data on impact of a timely 3 + 0 PCV schedule with high coverage are sparse, with none for PCV13. METHODS: We used national surveillance of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) from 2002 for baseline and appropriate later comparison periods to calculate incidence rate ratios (IRRs) by serotype and age using a Poisson model. PCV coverage was assessed from the Australian Childhood Immunisation Register. RESULTS: After 9 years of timely 3-dose PCV coverage of >92%, all-age IPD in Australia almost halved (IRR, 0.53; 95% confidence interval [CI], .50-.57), but differed by PCV era. Reductions in IPD due to vaccine serotypes from PCV7 (IRR, 0.20; CI, .17-.22) were about 2-fold greater than for IPD due to extra serotypes in PCV13 (13v-non7v) in a similar period (IRR, 0.58; CI, .51-.66). Post-PCV13 declines in serotype 19A IPD in persons aged <2 years (IRR, 0.23; CI, .13-.35) and ≥2 years (IRR, 0.35; CI, .28-.44) differed from other 13v-non7v IPD (IRR, 0.73; CI, .35-1.48 for those aged <2 years and IRR, 0.96; CI, .81-1.15 for those ≥2 years). Meningitis due to vaccine serotypes nearly disappeared in children eligible for 3 PCV13 doses. IPD due to non-PCV13 serotypes increased by 30% compared with 76% for non-PCV7 serotypes in equivalent period of vaccine use. CONCLUSIONS: Reductions in vaccine-type IPD post-PCV13 were inferior to Australian experience with PCV7 and reports from high-income countries giving a PCV booster dose. Applicability of findings to other settings would depend on age of IPD onset, serotype profile, and timeliness of vaccination.

Invasive pneumococcal disease in Australia, 2011 and 2012.

In Australia, there were 1,883 cases (8.3 per 100,000 population) of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) notified to the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS) in 2011 and 1,823 cases (8.0 per 100,000) in 2012. The overall rate of IPD in Indigenous Australians was 9 times the rate of IPD in non-Indigenous Australians in 2011 and 7 times in 2012. Following the July 2011 introduction of the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (13vPCV) to the National Immunisation Program, rates of IPD in children aged less than 5 years decreased from 19.5 per 100,000 in 2011 to 12.6 per 100,000 in 2012. In Indigenous adults aged 50 years or over the rates of IPD caused by serotypes included in the 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (23vPPV) continued to increase in both 2011 (47.2 per 100,000) and 2012 (51.2 per 100,000). The rates of IPD in non-Indigenous adults aged 65 years or over caused by serotypes included in the 23vPPV also increased in 2011 (10.1 per 100,000) and 2012 (11.2 per 100,000). There were 134 deaths attributable to IPD in 2011 and 126 in 2012, although it should be noted that deaths may be under-reported. The number of invasive pneumococcal isolates with reduced penicillin susceptibility remained low and reduced susceptibility to ceftriaxone/cefotaxime continued to be rare.

Tuberculosis notifications in Australia, 2012 and 2013.

The National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System received 1,317 tuberculosis (TB) notifications in 2012 and 1,263 notifications in 2013. This represents a rate of 5.8 per 100,000 population in 2012 and 5.5 per 100,000 population in 2013 and a reversal of the upward trend in TB incidence reported since 2007. In 2012 and 2013, Australia's overseas-born population continued to represent the majority of TB notifications with an incidence rate of 19.5 per 100,000 and 18.4 per 100,000 respectively. The incidence of TB in the Australian-born Indigenous population has fluctuated over the last decade; however, it remained reasonably steady in 2012 and 2013 with an incidence rate of 4.5 per 100,000 and 4.6 per 100,000 respectively. The incidence of TB in the Australian-born non-Indigenous population has continued to remain low at 0.7 per 100,000 in 2012 and 0.8 per 100,000 in 2013. Australia continued to record only a small number of multi-drug resistant TB cases nationally (2012: n=20; 2013: n=22) of which nearly all were identified in the overseas-born population. This report demonstrates excellent and sustained control of TB in Australia and reflects Australia's commitment to reducing the global burden of TB.

Invasive pneumococcal disease in Australia, 2009 and 2010.

Enhanced surveillance for invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) was conducted in all Australian states and territories in 2009 and 2010 with comprehensive comparative data available since 2002. There were 1,556 cases of IPD notified to the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System in Australia in 2009, a notification rate of 7.2 cases per 100,000 population. In 2010 there were 1,640 cases, a notification rate of 7.4 cases per 100,000. The overall rate of IPD in Indigenous Australians was almost 6 times the rate in non-Indigenous Australians in both 2009 and 2010. In 2009 and 2010, notification rates of IPD caused by serotypes included in the 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (7vPCV) continued to decrease across all age groups. Rates of IPD caused by non-7vPCV serotypes continued to show an increasing trend in both Indigenous and non-Indigenous children aged less than 5 years. In Indigenous adults (≥50 years), rates of IPD caused by both 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (23vPPV) serotypes and non-23vPPV serotypes continued to show an overall increase, particularly in 2010. There were 110 deaths attributed to IPD in 2009 and 137 in 2010, although it should be noted that deaths may be under-reported. The number of invasive pneumococcal isolates with reduced penicillin susceptibility remained low and reduced susceptibility to third generation cephalosporins was rare.

Tuberculosis notifications in Australia, 2011.

The National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System received 1,385 tuberculosis (TB) notifications in 2011, representing a rate of 6.2 cases per 100,000 population. While Australia has maintained a rate of 5 to 6 cases per 100,000 for TB since the mid-1980s, there has been a steady increase in incidence over the past decade. In 2011, Australia's overseas-born population continued to represent the majority of TB notifications (88%) with a notification rate of 20.2 per 100,000. The incidence of TB in the Australian-born Indigenous population has fluctuated over the last decade and showed no clear trend; however, in 2011 the notification rate was 4.9 per 100,000, which is a notable decrease from the 7.5 per 100,000 recorded in 2010. The incidence of TB in the Australian-born non-Indigenous population has continued to remain low at 0.9 per 100,000. Australia continued to record only a small number of multi-drug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) cases nationally (n=25), all of which were identified in the overseas-born population. To ensure that Australia can retain its low TB rate and work toward reducing rates further, it is essential that Australia maintains good centralised national TB reporting to monitor trends and identify at-risk populations, and continues to contribute to global TB control initiatives.