The VicSPIN program

The Victorian Sentinel Practice Influenza Network (VicSPIN) is a sentinel general practitioner (GP) surveillance program operated by the Epidemiology Unit of the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory (VIDRL), at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity.

Supported by the Victorian Government Department of Health and Human Services, VicSPIN is comprised of GPs who submit weekly reports from May to October about the proportion of their patients with influenza-like illness and samples for virological testing. These data provide essential information to understand and compare influenza seasons in Victoria. Data collected from VicSPIN are also used to calculate the effectiveness of each season’s influenza vaccine.

GPs receive Royal Australian College of General Practitioners’ Quality Improvement and Continuing Professional Development Program points for participating in VicSPIN. If you are a GP interested in participating in VicSPIN, please email us at vicspin@vidrl.org.au for further information.

Influenza surveillance in Victoria

In collaboration with the Victorian Government Department of Health and Human Services, the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza, and the National Home Doctor Service, the VIDRL Epidemiology Unit conducts regular analyses and reporting of several data sources to characterise influenza-like illness and laboratory confirmed influenza activity in Victoria.

Reports are published each week from May to October each year, and can be accessed here.

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