Moberley Sarah, Carlson Sandra, Durrheim David, Dalton Craig
Hunter New England Population Health, NSW, Australia
University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia
Commun Dis Intell (2018). 2019 Jul 16;43. doi: 10.33321/cdi.2019.43.31.
Flutracking participation continued to grow, with a total of 33,947 participants in 2017 (a 9.5% increase from 2016). The majority of participants completed their survey within 24 hours of the email being sent (average 72.5% responses received in 24 hours). Overall, the rate of influenza-like illness (ILI) in 2017 was higher and remained elevated for a longer period compared to previous years except for the 2009 pandemic. Flutracking placed the severity and magnitude of the influenza season into historical context. Following the highest number of laboratory-notified influenza cases on record (2.8-fold increase from 2016), Flutracking data demonstrated a large increase in the percent of participants with fever and cough that were tested for influenza (2.9% to 5.0% for 2016 and 2017 respectively) and thus determined it was increased laboratory testing that contributed to the substantial increase in influenza notifications. Flutracking participants with fever and cough that were tested for influenza have increased each year from 2013 to 2017 at the national level, with a large increase from 2016 (2.9%) to 2017 (5.0%). The peak weekly fever and cough attack rate occurred in mid-August, with 4.1% ILI in the unvaccinated, compared to 3.1% in vaccinated Flutrackers. In the peak four weeks of ILI, 12.3% of participants experienced an episode of fever and cough. Divergence between the vaccinated and unvaccinated participants’ ILI percentages was highest during the week ending 6 August 2017 (4.1% in the unvaccinated group and 2.7% in the vaccinated group). The timing of the ILI peak amongst Flutracking participants was consistent with peak notifications of laboratory-confirmed influenza.
流感追踪项目的参与人数持续增长，2017年共有33947名参与者（比2016年增长了9.5%）。大多数参与者在收到电子邮件后的24小时内完成了调查（24小时内平均收到72.5%的回复）。总体而言，2017年的流感样疾病（ILI）发病率高于往年，除2009年大流行外，持续升高的时间也更长。流感追踪项目将流感季节的严重程度和规模置于历史背景中。在创纪录的实验室通报流感病例数量最多之后（比2016年增加了2.8倍），流感追踪项目数据显示，接受流感检测的发热和咳嗽参与者百分比大幅增加（2016年和2017年分别为2.9%和5.0%），因此确定是实验室检测增加导致了流感通报的大幅增加。从2013年到2017年，全国范围内接受流感检测的发热和咳嗽的流感追踪项目参与者每年都在增加，从2016年的2.9%大幅增加到2017年的5.0%。每周发热和咳嗽发作率的峰值出现在8月中旬，未接种疫苗者的流感样疾病发病率为4.1%，而接种疫苗的流感追踪参与者为3.1%。在流感样疾病的高峰期四周内，12.3%的参与者出现了发热和咳嗽症状。在截至2017年8月6日的那一周，接种疫苗和未接种疫苗的参与者的流感样疾病百分比差异最大（未接种疫苗组为4.1%，接种疫苗组为2.7%）。流感追踪项目参与者中流感样疾病高峰期的时间与实验室确诊流感的通报高峰期一致。
