Meningococcal surveillance Australia, 1 July to 30 September 2014.

The reference laboratories of the Australian Meningococcal Surveillance Programme (AMSP) report data on the number of cases confirmed by laboratory testing using culture and by non-culture based techniques. Culture positive cases, where Neisseria meningitidis is grown from a normally sterile site or skin lesions, and non-culture based diagnoses, derived from results of nucleic acid amplification testing and serological techniques, are defined as invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) according to Public Health Laboratory Network definitions. Data contained in quarterly reports are restricted to a description of the numbers of cases by jurisdiction and serogroup, where known. Some minor corrections to data in the Table may be made in subsequent reports if additional data are received. 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.