Monthly Notifiable Disease Surveillance Report - Feb 2009
Tuesday 21st March 2023
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Key notifiable disease trends
- Barmah Forest virus: One case of Barmah Forest virus was notified from Capital and Coast DHB in February 2009. After further investigation, it was found not to be a case.
- Cholera: Under further investigation, the cholera case reported in the February 2009 was found to be infected with a non O1 non O139 serogroup strain of Vibrio cholerae.Only cholera due to O1 or O139 serogroup strains are notifiable and the case has been de-notified.
- Cryptosporidiosis: 55 cryptosporidiosis cases were notified in February 2009 compared to 32 cases notified in the same month of the previous year. For the 12 month period ending 28 February 2009 the national rate was 18.5 per 100 000 population compared to 20.6 for the same 12 month period last year. The cases had varied ages, ranging from less than 1 year to 70+ years. The highest number of cases in the 1-4 years age group (14 cases) followed by 5-9 years age group (9 cases). Among the cases where risk factor information was recorded, 88.9% (8/9) had recreational water contact, 50.0% (4/8) had contact with farm animals, 37.5% (3/8) had faecal contact and one case had travelled overseas. Two cases were hospitalised.
- Lead absorption: 41 cases of lead absorption were notified in February 2009 compared to 6 notified cases in the same month of the previous year (Figure 1). The highest numbers of cases were reported from Auckland (14) and Counties Manukau (5) DHBs. The cases were aged between 1 and 70+ years, with the highest number of cases in the 50-59 years age group (10 cases).Twenty-three cases were recorded as currently working or having worked in high risk occupations. The recorded occupations were: automotive electrician, demolition contractor, foundry worker, painter, lead worker, radiator repairman and recycling pick-up driver. From 18 June 2007 the non-occupational notifiable blood lead level reduced from 0.72 µmol/L to 0.48 µmol/L.
- Measles:12 cases of measles were notified in February 2009 compared to 4 notifications in the preceding month and zero notifications in same month of the previous year. The cases were reported from Otago (9), Waitemata (2) and Capital and Coast (1) DHBs. Three cases are still under investigation (1 (<1 year), 1 (10-14 years) and 1 (15-19 years)) while the other confirmed nine cases had not been immunised (1 (1-4 years), 1 (5-9 years), 3 (10-14 years) 3 (15-19 years) and 1 (20-29 years)).
- Meningococcal disease: Based on the earliest date available1, 9 cases of meningococcal disease were notified during February 2009, 7 (77.8%) of which were laboratory-confirmed. In comparison, 8 cases were notified the previous month, January 2009, and 4 cases were notified during the same month last year, February 2008. For the 12 month period ending 28 February 2009, Whanganui DHB recorded the highest incidence rate of 6.3 per 100 000 population (4 cases), followed by Hawke’s Bay DHB (5.9 per 100 000, 9 cases) and Southland DHB (5.4 per 100 000, 6 cases). The highest age-specific incidence rate was in infants aged less than one year (32.8 per 100 000 population, 21 cases), followed by those in the 1-4 years age group (13.6 per 100 000, 32 cases), and those in the 15-19 years age group (4.7 per 100 000, 15 cases).
- Pertussis: 140 cases of pertussis were notified in February 2009, compared to 81 notifications in the preceding month and 28 notifications in same month of the previous year. (Figure 2). There were 44 (31.4%) laboratory-confirmed cases. The highest numbers of cases were reported from Canterbury (34), Nelson Marlborough (18) and Waikato (12) DHBs. For the 12 month period ending 28 February 2009, the highest incidence rates were reported from West Coast(52.5 per 100 000 population, 17 cases) and Nelson Marlborough (46.4 per 100 000, 63 cases) compared to a national rate of 14.0 per 100 000 population. The current 12 month rate by age group was highest amongst infants aged less than one year (96.8 per 100 000 population, 62 cases), followed by children the 1-4 years age group (20.8 per 100 000, 49 cases).
- Ross River Virus Infection: One case of laboratory-confirmed Ross River virus infection was notified in February 2009. The case was a female in the 60-69 years age group of European ethnicity. The case had been in Australia during the incubation period of the disease.
- VTEC/STEC:25 cases of VTEC/STEC infections were notified in February 2009.The highest numbers of cases were reported from Auckland (8) and Waikato (6) DHBs. The cases were aged between 2 and 70+ years, with the highest number of cases in the 1-4 years age group (10 cases). VTEC O157 was isolated for 13 of the cases.Risk factors recorded include:recreational water contact (4), contact with animals (3), contact with another person with similar symptoms (2), contact with children in nappies (2), contact with anon habitual water supply (1), attended a social function (1), attended school (1), and handled raw meat or offal (1). Auckland Regional Public Health Service notified an outbreak (interim report) involving two cases within the same household.
1The ‘earliest’ date refers to the earliest recorded date for the case
(onset or hospitalisation date rather than report date, if available).
‘Earliest’ date, as opposed to ‘report date’ alone, is used throughout the
analysis of meningococcal disease notification data.
Note: Click on the document links below to open. These documents are in PDF format. You will need to download the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view them.
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Ph: +64 4 914 0700 Fax: +64 4 914 0770 Email: survqueries@esr.cri.nz |
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