National Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance
HSE, Health Protection Surveillance Centre
1999 — S. aureus/S. Pneumonia.
2002 — E. coli/ enterococci.
2006 — K. pneumoniae/ P. Aeruginosa.
2014 — Acinetobacter spp..
To provide the best possible information for the control and prevention of infectious diseases, by providing timely information and independent advice, and by carrying out disease surveillance, epidemiological investigation and related research and training.
As of quarter 4 2016, 37 (of 39) microbiology laboratories in Ireland were participating in European Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System (EARSS) representing approximately 97% coverage of the Irish population.
EARSS was established in 1999 in response to the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance in Europe. In 2010 EARSS coordination was transferred to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and renamed the European Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Network (EARS-Net).
EARS-Net comprises a network of over 800 microbiological laboratories serving some 1,200 hospitals in 30 countries that collects routinely-generated antimicrobial susceptibility testing data on invasive infections caused by seven important bacterial pathogens: Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), Streptococcus pneumoniae (S. pneumoniae), Escherichia coli (E. coli), Enterococcus faecalis (E. faecalis), Enterococcus faecium (E.faecium), Klebsiella pneumoniae (K. pneumoniae), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) and Acinetobacter spp.
As of quarter 4 2016, 37 (of 39) Irish laboratories serving 57 acute hospitals (public and private) participate in EARSS representing approximately 97% coverage of the Irish population.
Laboratory data: laboratory code; isolate data; isolate sample number (lab); isolate source tick box; date of sample collection.
Patient data: patient identification/medical record number (ID/ Medical Record Number [MRN]); sex; date of birth; hospital data; name/code of hospital; origin of patient; date of admission; hospital department (if available); antibiotic susceptibility testing.
37 (of 39) microbiology laboratories representing the majority of acute public and private hospitals, plus other healthcare institutions.
EARS-Net collects data on the first invasive isolate (from blood or cerebrospinal fluid) of each pathogen per patient per quarter. The majority (95%) of the records are received electronically (usually as file downloads from the Laboratory Information Management System, Excel files or WHONET [WHO Collaborating Centre for Surveillance of Antimicrobial Resistance] files, a free software used to manage antimicrobial resistance data) containing data on the following: S. pneumoniae, S. aureus, E. coli, K. pneumoniae, E. faecium/faecalis, P. aeruginosa and Acinetobacter spp. For the remaining 5%, isolate record forms are submitted.
Not available
Not in use
Approximately 5,600 records created in 2015.
Quarterly and annual reports published on HPSC website (www.hpsc.ie).
Data requests can be submitted via hpsc@hse.ie and will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.
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