Enhanced Bacteraemia (Bloodstream infections) Surveillance in Ireland
Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC).
2004
To provide epidemiological insights into antimicrobial resistance data from key pathogens in order to inform infection prevention and control teams and other policy decision makers.
Voluntary participation (22 laboratories regularly participate accounting for 45% of EARS-Net isolates).
Data are collected quarterly.
Data on bacteraemia caused by selected pathogens is currently collected as part of the European Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System (EARS-NET).
EARS-NET was enhanced in Ireland to collect demographic, risk factor and clinical data for each EARS-NET isolate reported since 2004. The enhanced programme involves voluntary participation by hospitals that provide data on invasive pathogens causing bloodstream infections.
Infection control teams in participating acute hospitals.
Patient details: patient number/chart number, date of birth, age, sex, date of admission, date specimen taken, patient admitted from, patient outcome details, healthcare associated details, organism and laboratory info, risk factors, primary source of infection, clinical features.
Not available.
No national-level identifier is used.
Equity stratifiers not included in the dataset.
In Ireland, the system was enhanced to gather additional information including patient risk factors, sources of infection and patient outcome. This is an enhancement of the existing EARS-Net data collection system.
Data are collected on a quarterly basis.
Not in use.
Enhanced data were collected on approx. 1,600 EARS-Net blood-culture isolates for 2018.
Annual reports available on HPSC website.
Data requests can be submitted via hpsc@hse.ie and will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.
No.