I accept there are funding issues nationwide, but I have been keeping a pretty close eye on the sentinel hospital tests conducted because of it. Start of June 2024, SARI admissions 90 Flu/RSV/Covid panels 89 Start of June 2025, SARI admissions 86 Flu/RSV/Covid panels 82
I do feel like the presentations are outpacing the testing results — the lab reports don’t have much of a bump yet.
Now you’re talking my kind of data Ryan, literally. I can have a look next week if it helps
Here is both Christchurch covid wastewater levels (red line) [source:ESR] and Canterbury DHB in hospital at midnight with a covid diagnosis - mostly SARI cases (purple dots) [source, MoH covid GitHub repo], scaled to total ILI ED attendances for March & April 2023 (as community wastewater similar)
Well, then – perhaps not necessarily outpacing, but roughly matching! Feels like the tidal wave is just about to hit ...
This is what Christchurch covid wastewater levels look like, scaled to match March & April 2023 ILI presentation levels (which is around the same level current wastewater is at).
Fair enough - surveillance must be separate from clinical operations.
But because the SHIVERS project (southern hemisphere influenza vaccine effectiveness, research & surveillance) is at least in part CDC funded, I do wonder if someday some of the monitoring will just stop (the sentinel hospital testing and the Wellkiwis community cohort study have been connected)