Laboratory Service during Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 | CDC EID

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Volume 17, Number 6–June 2011
Synopsis
Reality Check of Laboratory Service Effectiveness during Pandemic (H1N1) 2009, Victoria, Australia
Michael Catton, Julian Druce, Georgina Papadakis, Thomas Tran, and Christopher Birch
Author affiliation: Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, North Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Suggested citation for this article

No campaign plan survives first contact with the enemy.—Helmuth Graf von Moltke

Abstract
In Australia, the outbreak of pandemic (H1N1) 2009 began in Melbourne, Victoria; in the first 17 days, the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory detected 977 cases. Although the laboratory had a pandemic plan in place, a retrospective evaluation found 3 major variations from plan assumptions: 1) higher peak demand not limited by a case definition, 2) prolonged peak demand because containment attempts continued despite widespread influenza, and 3) unexpected influence of negative test results on public health actions. Although implementation of the plan was generally successful, the greatest challenges were limited availability of skilled staff and test reagents. Despite peak demand of 1,401 tests per day, results were provided within the usual 24 hours of specimen receipt; however, turnaround time seemed slower because of slow transport times (>3 days for 45% of specimens). Hence, effective laboratory capability might be enhanced by speeding transport of specimens and improving transmission of clinical data.

The pandemic (H1N1) 2009 outbreak in Australia was detected in Victoria on May 18, 2009, and during the following weeks spread to other states. Pandemic planning guidelines for Australia consist of 4 phases (1): delay (identify and test persons who meet a clinical case definition), contain (home quarantine laboratory-confirmed case-patients and give antiviral prophylaxis to their contacts), sustain (restrict laboratory testing to persons with clinically defined cases who are at increased risk for severe outcomes), and protect (identify and manage those at risk for severe illness and those in vulnerable settings such as aged-care facilities). The pandemic plan envisaged all Australian states moving together through the pandemic phases. In practice, however, Victoria implemented the sustain phase, referred to as modified-sustain, sooner than other states.

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Laboratory Service during Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 | CDC EID


Suggested Citation for this Article
Catton M, Druce J, Papadakis G, Tran T, Birch C. Reality check of laboratory service effectiveness during pandemic (H1N1) 2009, Victoria, Australia. Emerg Infect Dis [serial on the Internet]. 2011 Jun [date cited].
http://www.cdc.gov/EID/content/17/6/963.htm

DOI: 10.3201/eid1706.101747


Comments to the Authors
Please use the form below to submit correspondence to the authors or contact them at the following address:

Michael Catton, Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, Locked Bag 815, Carlton South, Victoria 3053, Australia; email: mike.catton@mh.org.au