What is general practice sentinel surveillance?

ASPREN works with general practices across Australia to track respiratory illness in the community. When patients visit their doctor with flu-like symptoms, participating clinics can report these cases and, in some instances, collect a simple swab. These samples are tested to identify which viruses are circulating around Australia.  By monitoring patients who visit their GP with symptoms of infection, ASPREN provides an early and reliable picture of what is happening outside hospitals.
We combine this information with data on how many people are visiting their GP to:
•    Track how illnesses are spreading
•    Understand who is most affected
•    Monitor how well vaccines are working
•    Detect unusual patterns or new strains early

Sentinel surveillance in primary care is recognised by the World Health Organization as a key pillar of respiratory disease surveillance, providing essential insight into helping to understand what is circulating in the community and how illness patterns are changing over time.

ASPREN uses two complementary approaches to build a complete picture of respiratory illness in the community: tracking symptoms (syndromic surveillance) and identifying the viruses causing them (virological surveillance).