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Surveillance for Chlamydia in Australia
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A CRITICAL REVIEW AND EVALUATION OF THE PROCESS OF SURVEILLANCE FOR
CHLAMYDIA DISEASE IN AUSTRALIA
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Surveillance for Chlamydia in Australia
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Introduction
Australia has an extensive disease surveillance system that monitors various blood-borne
and infectious diseases. The system, known as the National Notifiable Disease Surveillance
System (NNDSS), relies on reported incidences of notifiable diseases by health providers
(Department of Health, 2015). The Communicable Disease Network Australia manages the
NNDSS system in coordination with the National Department of Health. The public health
surveillance process involves collecting data, processing, dissemination, and application in
relevant fields. The system collects data from the different states and territories of Australia.
Other surveillance systems operate at the state level. In New South Wales (NSW) State, there is
the Notifiable Conditions Information Management System (NCIMS). The surveillance systems'
operations operate through various legislations such as the 2007 National Health Security Act
and the 2010 NSW Public Health Act.
One of the infectious diseases is monitored through the surveillance systems in
Chlamydia. Chlamydia is one of the most notified sexually transmitted infections in Australia.
The transmission of Chlamydia occurs through unprotected sex, genital contact, or contact with
genital fluids from an infected person (Mayo Clinic, 2020). It is prevalent among sexually active
young people. Its symptoms include painful urination, intra-period bleeding for women, and
abnormal genital discharges (Mayo Clinic, 2020). This study compares the surveillance system
for Chlamydia at the national level and in New South Wales state. Some of the comparison areas
include surveillance and response systems in the two jurisdictions, purpose and uses of the
surveillance systems, data sources, governance, legislative frameworks, and the systems'
strengths and limitations. This study holds the view that the national and New South Wales
surveillance systems are similar.
Surveillance for Chlamydia in Australia
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Chlamydia
Chlamydia is a bacterial disease caused by Chlamydia trachomatis. It is a sexually
transmitted infection common among sexually active young people (CDC, 2016). A person can
contract the disease through unprotected sex, genital contact, or sexual fluid contact with an
infected person (Mayo Clinic, 2020). Transmission of Chlamydia infection can also occur from
mother to baby during birth. Symptoms of the disease in infants include pneumonia and
conjunctivitis. Rectal or genital infection can happen to children infected during birth.
The infection does not readily show symptoms, and only 5-30% of infected women and 10% of
infected men show signs (CDC, 2016). In most people, the asymptomatic nature of the disease
increases the chances of further spreading without detection. Common symptoms that may
develop several weeks after exposure include intra period bleeding in women, painful urination,
painful sexual intercourse, bleeding after sex for women, vaginal discharge in women, testicular
pain in men, and penis discharge in men (Mayo Clinic, 2020). Chlamydia complications include
proctitis and urethritis, pelvic inflammatory disease, and cervicitis in women (CDC, 2016). Other
complications are ectopic pregnancy, tubal factor infertility, reactive arthritis, perihepatitis, preterm delivery, and chronic pelvic pain. Conjunctivitis can also occur when a person's eyes come
into contact with genital fluids. Chlamydia is treatable using a range of antibiotics such as
azithromycin and doxycycline (Health direct, 2020). The two drugs are available in most health
centers.
Chlamydia infection is prevalent throughout the world. According to Rowley et al.
(2019), there were 127.2 million cases globally of Chlamydia infections in men and women aged
15-49 years in 2016. In Australia, the number of conditions stood at over 71,000 cases, and the
rate of infection was 385 infections per 100,000 people in 2016. In recent years, over 97,000
Surveillance for Chlamydia in Australia
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people are diagnosed with the illness annually (Health direct, 2020). In New South Wales,
around 25,985 people contracted Chlamydia in 2016 (New South Wales Government, 2016). The
infection causes massive impacts on the populations at the global, national, and state levels.
Some of the effects include poor health; the financial cost of screening, diagnosis, treatment, and
forgoing work; government spending on treatment; and the social and emotional impact on the
infected persons.
Public Health Surveillance
Many nations practice public health surveillance to protect the wellbeing of their citizens.
According to Jamison et al. (2006), public health surveillance is a continuous, systematic process
of collecting, analyzing, interpreting, and disseminating health data to plan, implement, and
monitor public health activities. Public health surveillance is an evidence-based tool used to
estimate populations' health status and behaviors and measure their present conditions to
determine the necessary interventions and the interventions' results. The World Health
Organization (n.d.) explains that a sound surveillance system detects and notifies health issues,
allows investigation and confirmation of disease cases, collects and processes data, offers
analysis and reporting, provides feedback, and disseminates data relevant parti...
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