Surveillance of antimicrobial consumption in Ireland
HSE, Health Protection Surveillance Centre
2003 — data collection and reporting for primary care established.
2004 — pilot data collection commenced.
2006 — national roll out completed.
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.
Forty-two acute hospitals participating; coverage of primary care is over 95%.
Data on antimicrobials dispensed by hospital pharmacies, and antimicrobials purchased by community pharmacies, are collected and converted into a standardised measure using the World Health Organization Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) and the Defined Daily Dose (DDD) classification system.
Hospitals provide data (ward/quantities/cost) on the antimicrobial drugs (by product and pack) dispensed in each quarter. Primary care data are by quantity of antimicrobial drugs (by product and pack) sold by retail pharmacy aggregated to sub-county level in each month.
Hospital pharmacies and QuintilesIMSTM, formerly known as IMS Health, (representing wholesaler to retail community pharmacy sales).
Hospitals pharmacies send data directly to HPSC by quarters; a secure online tool (MicroB) is now available to assist remote uploading and analysis. Primary care data are received on a monthly basis from IMS Health.
Not available
WHO ATC/DDD classification scheme.
Hospital data: approximately 140,000 records created on average annually (cumulative dispensing transactions; packages of each drug dispensed to each hospital ward within a quarter).
Primary care: approximately 100,000 records created on average annually (cumulative sales transactions; packages of each drug sold by wholesalers to sub-county level geographical segments in each month).
Note records are not the same as prescriptions.
Bi-annual and annual reports are available on the HPSC website.
Reports are available from the HPSC website via the MicroB Open reports microsites: http://www.hpsc.ie/A-Z/MicrobiologyAntimicrobialResistance/EuropeanSurveillanceofAntimicrobialConsumptionESAC/PublicMicroBReports/
Data requests can be submitted via hpsc@hse.ie and will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.
The MicroB Open reports are interactive and detailed analysis for each participating hospital can be easily accessed.