Voluntary Surveillance of Staphylococcus aureus

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

Annual report for 2010

The most recent report covers Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia diagnosed between January 2001 and December 2010 under the voluntary laboratory reporting schemes in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. These reports comprise bacteria isolated from blood cultures.

Some data from the mandatory reporting scheme in England (established in April 2001) are also included in the full report for comparison. Northern Ireland and Wales have their own mandatory meticillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteraemia reporting schemes, which are not covered in this report.

Rates were calculated using 2009 resident population denominators published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

A total of 10,070 Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia were reported through the voluntary reporting scheme in 2010:

• 9,063 reports from England
• 607 reports from Wales
• 400 reports from Northern Ireland

This total represents a decrease of 5.6% compared to voluntary data from 2009.

Reports for 2010 are provisional as of 14 July 2011 and may increase due to late reporting. 

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to microbiology colleagues in NHS acute trusts for their contributions to this reporting scheme, as well as efforts from colleagues in the regional offices of the Health Protection Agency.

For earlier reports please see the Staphylococcus aureus past publication pages