Reflections on public health surveillance of pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza in NSW

Surveillance has a fundamental role during public health emergencies to provide accurate and relevant information to guide decision making. For each phase of the NSW response to the pandemic H1N1 (2009) influenza there were significant differences in the public health surveillance objectives and response mechanisms. Consequently each phase placed a different emphasis on the various sources and types of surveillance information which were collected and reported upon. We examine whether the NSW public health surveillance systems were able to inform effective public health management throughout all phases of the pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza.