Meningococcal Surveillance Australia - Reporting period 1 January to 31 March 2023.

Abstract

The reference laboratories of the National Neisseria Network, Australia report data on invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) cases confirmed by culture and/or molecular techniques for the Australian Meningococcal Surveillance Programme (AMSP). Culture-positive cases and molecular-based diagnoses are defined as IMD by the Communicable Diseases Network Australia National Guidelines for Public Health Units.1 Data contained in the quarterly reports are restricted to a description of the number of cases by jurisdiction and serogroup, when known. Some minor corrections to data in Table 1 may be made in subsequent reports if additional data are received. IMD notifications in Australia in the first quarter of 2023 were greater than in the corresponding period in 2022 but still below the 36 IMD cases reported in quarter one of 2019 (prior to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic).2 Notably, the predominance of N. meningitidis serogroup B (MenB) IMD continued in the first quarter of 2023 (21/23, 91.3% of notifications), showing an increase from 84% in the fourth quarter of 2022.3 In contrast, between 2019 and 2021, 50–62% of IMD was attributable to MenB.4 A full analysis of laboratory-confirmed cases of IMD in each calendar year is contained in the AMSP annual report published in Communicable Diseases Intelligence.