The HPA under takes surveillance of bacteraemia by collecting information from hospital microbiology laboratories. For some organisms ( Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and glycopeptide-resistant enterococci) it is mandatory for hospitals to supply data but for other species of bacteria data is supplied on a voluntary basis. In addition, sentinel surveillance is undertaken by the reference laboratories where isolates are sent in by sentinel laboratories for centralised testing for susceptibility to antibiotics. This data can be used to help clinicians choose the best antibiotics.

Data on a range of organisms, including bacteria detected in blood samples, are collected via the HPA's voluntary surveillance scheme, mainly using electronic reporting to LabBase.  Records of bacteria received by this system may include patient details such as age and sex, details of detection methods used, and some antibiotic susceptibility results. Entry of data onto this system in laboratories is continuous.

This report published in Health Protection Report weekly concerns bacteria identified from blood cultures and reported voluntarily by laboratories in England, Wales and North Ireland. Consult the Bacteraemia pages, which includes archives sorted by year. 

For more voluntary surveillance data please refer to the HPR Weekly, or refer to the 'Epidemiological data' sections of the organism-specific pages listed under 'Topics A-Z'.

The HPA is also involved in theBritish Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (BSAC) Resistance Surveillance Project  and the European Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Network (EARS-Net) bacteraemia surveillance projects.

• Klebsiella, Enterobacter, Serratia, and Citrobacter spp. bacteraemia, England, Wales, and Northern Ireland
  This report contains data on Klebsiella, Enterobacter, Serratia, and Citrobacter spp. bacteraemias, with brief details on less common enterobacteriaceae.
  Added/updated: 25 January 2012
  
• Polymicrobial bacteraemias and fungaemias in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland
  This report contains data on polymicrobial bacteraemias and fungaemias in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Polymicrobial bacteraemia is defined as the isolation of two or more different organisms from the same blood culture.
  Added/updated: 25 January 2012
  
• Proteus spp, Morganella morganii, and Providencia spp
  Reports of surveillance of these organisms.
  Added/updated: 25 January 2012
  
• Uncommon pathogens involved in bacteraemia
  This report concerns bacteria identified from blood cultures and reported voluntarily by laboratories in England, Wales and North Ireland.
  Added/updated: 25 January 2012