Influenza-like illness data were retrieved from the World Health Organization’s Global Influenza Programme for Australia, and subset to the weeks starting January 2, 2012 to February 24, 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted influenza transmission and surveillance. The data described: (1) the weekly number of cases of influenza-like illness; and (2) the weekly number of laboratory specimens tested, and of those positive for influenza by type and subtype. The specimen counts come from laboratory surveillance separate from the influenza-like illness counts, and are not a subset of them. We grouped the specimens into: influenza A (all influenza A positives, whether or not subtyped), of which some were subtyped as influenza A H3N2 or influenza A H1N1 (influenza A H1N1, influenza A H1N1pdm09); influenza B (influenza B Yamagata, influenza B Victoria, influenza B lineage not determined); and other (specimens tested that were not positive for influenza).
Format
influenza
A data frame with 426 rows and 7 columns:
- ili
Integer, weekly number of cases of influenza-like illness
- week
Date, start of the week, from 2 January 2012 to 24 February 2020
- inf_A
Integer, weekly number of specimens positive for influenza A, including those subsequently subtyped as H3N2 or H1N1
- inf_B
Integer, weekly number of specimens positive for influenza B
- inf_H3N2
Integer, weekly number of specimens positive for influenza A subtype H3N2
- inf_H1N1
Integer, weekly number of specimens positive for influenza A subtype H1N1
- other
Integer, weekly number of specimens tested that were not positive for influenza, calculated as the number of specimens tested minus the number positive for influenza A or B