Australian Paediatric Surveillance Unit (APSU) Annual Surveillance Report 2025
Suzy Teutsch1, Carlos Nunez2, Anne Morris2
1The University of Sydney, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Specialty of Child and Adolescent Health, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; The Australian Paediatric Surveillance Unit, The Sydney Children's Hospitals Network, Westmead, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. suzy.teutsch@health.nsw.gov.au.
Communicable Diseases Intelligence (2018)
|July 20, 2026
Summary
The Australian Paediatric Surveillance Unit (APSU) monitors rare childhood communicable diseases. Surveillance confirmed Australia
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics and Public Health Surveillance
- Communicable Disease Epidemiology
- Childhood Rare Diseases
Background:
- The Australian Paediatric Surveillance Unit (APSU) has a 30-year history of national prospective surveillance for rare childhood conditions.
- Surveillance data informs policy and clinical practice changes for pediatric communicable diseases and complications.
- In 2025, APSU focused on seven specific rare communicable diseases and complications in children.
Purpose of the Study:
- To report on the incidence and outcomes of rare communicable diseases monitored by APSU in 2025.
- To assess the effectiveness of vaccination programs through surveillance of vaccine-preventable diseases.
- To highlight the ongoing necessity of pediatric surveillance for rare conditions.
Main Methods:
- Prospective national surveillance involving approximately 1,313 pediatricians and specialists.
- Monthly report cards detailing rare conditions under surveillance.
- Case report forms collected for confirmed cases, including demographics, clinical features, and outcomes.
Main Results:
- 105 confirmed cases from 134 notifications with a 78.4% annual response rate.
- Non-polio acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) incidence (1.58/100,000) exceeded WHO requirements for polio-free status.
- Stable perinatal HIV exposure, increased pediatric HIV infections, three neonatal varicella infections (NVI), and one juvenile-onset recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (JoRRP) case reported.
Conclusions:
- APSU surveillance is crucial for maintaining polio-free status and monitoring HIV trends in children.
- Reported cases of NVI and JoRRP indicate persistent vaccination gaps despite universal vaccination policies.
- Continued APSU surveillance is essential for evaluating disease prevention and managing adverse outcomes in children.
Related Concept Videos
01:26Principles of Disease Surveillance
Disease surveillance is the systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of health data essential to the planning, implementation, and evaluation of public health practice. This process integrates data dissemination to entities responsible for preventing and controlling disease, injury, and disability. Surveillance systems provide crucial information for action, helping public health authorities make informed decisions to manage and prevent outbreaks, ensure public safety, optimize...
01:22Healthcare Associated Infections II: Preventive Measures
Essential infection prevention measures are based on the knowledge of the infection chain, the modes of transmission in healthcare settings, and the use of the best practices in all healthcare settings. Compulsory public reporting of healthcare-associated infection rates is needed to allow individuals and the community to make informed choices regarding selecting a healthcare facility.
The best practices for preventing healthcare-associated infections include hand hygiene, patient risk...
The best practices for preventing healthcare-associated infections include hand hygiene, patient risk...