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  1. Case Definitions/

Open Syndrome Avian Influenza in Humans (AVIH)

Authors: Department of Health Public Health and Clinical Services Division, Government of Western Australia

Location: Australia

Purpose #

The definition #

Clinical evidence An acute illness characterised by:

  1. Fever (>38°C) or history of fever AND one or more of; cough OR rhinorrhoea OR myalgia OR headache OR dyspnoea OR diarrhoea; OR
  2. Conjunctivitis OR
  3. Infiltrates or evidence of an acute pneumonia on a chest radiograph plus evidence of acute respiratory insufficiency (hypoxaemia, severe tachypnoea).

Machine-readable definition #

The definition is available in JSON format following the Open Syndrome v1.0 specification:

{
   "authors": [
     "Department of Health Public Health and Clinical Services Division"
   ],
   "category": "suspected",
   "definition_type": "case_definition",
   "description": "",
   "human_readable_definition": "Clinical evidence \nAn acute illness characterised by: \n \n1. Fever (\u003e38°C) or history of fever AND one or more of; cough OR rhinorrhoea OR \nmyalgia OR headache OR dyspnoea OR diarrhoea; \nOR \n2. Conjunctivitis \nOR \n3. Infiltrates or evidence of an acute pneumonia on a chest radiograph plus evidence \nof acute respiratory insufficiency (hypoxaemia, severe tachypnoea). \n",
   "inclusion_criteria": [
     {
       "logical_operator": "OR",
       "type": "criterion",
       "values": [
         {
           "logical_operator": "AND",
           "type": "criterion",
           "values": [
             {
               "logical_operator": "OR",
               "type": "criterion",
               "values": [
                 {
                   "description": "\u003e38°C",
                   "name": "Fever",
                   "type": "symptom"
                 },
                 {
                   "name": "history of fever",
                   "type": "symptom"
                 }
               ]
             },
             {
               "logical_operator": "AT_LEAST",
               "logical_operator_arguments": [
                 1
               ],
               "type": "criterion",
               "values": [
                 {
                   "name": "cough",
                   "type": "symptom"
                 },
                 {
                   "name": "rhinorrhoea",
                   "type": "symptom"
                 },
                 {
                   "name": "myalgia",
                   "type": "symptom"
                 },
                 {
                   "name": "headache",
                   "type": "symptom"
                 },
                 {
                   "name": "dyspnoea",
                   "type": "symptom"
                 },
                 {
                   "name": "diarrhoea",
                   "type": "symptom"
                 }
               ]
             }
           ]
         },
         {
           "name": "conjunctivitis",
           "type": "symptom"
         },
         {
           "logical_operator": "AND",
           "type": "criterion",
           "values": [
             {
               "name": "Infiltrates or evidence of an acute pneumonia on chest radiograph",
               "type": "symptom"
             },
             {
               "description": "hypoxaemia, severe tachypnoea",
               "name": "acute respiratory insufficiency",
               "type": "symptom"
             }
           ]
         }
       ]
     }
   ],
   "keywords": [
     "Avian Influenza in Humans",
     "AIH",
     "Oceania"
   ],
   "language": "English",
   "location": "Australia",
   "notes": [],
   "open_syndrome_version": "1.0.0",
   "organization": "Government of Western Australia",
   "published_at": "2015-07-01T12:00:00Z",
   "published_by": [
     "Open Syndrome Initiative"
   ],
   "published_in": "https://opensyndrome.org",
   "references": [
     {
       "url": "http://www.health.gov.au/casedefinitions"
     }
   ],
   "scope": "broad",
   "status": "draft",
   "target_public_health_threats": [
     "Avian Influenza in Humans"
   ],
   "title": "Open Syndrome Avian Influenza in Humans (AVIH)",
   "version": "1.0.0"
 }

Using the Definition #

Healthcare organizations can implement this definition through:

  • Direct integration with surveillance systems
  • API endpoints for real-time validation
  • Manual case verification processes

Next Steps #

We encourage:

  • Clinical feedback on the definition criteria
  • Technical feedback on the implementation format
  • Suggestions for additional symptoms or signs
  • Reports of implementation experiences

Get Involved #

We welcome contributions and feedback from the community.