The most recent report covers Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia diagnosed between January and December 2008 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 here for comparison. Northern Ireland and Wales have their own mandatory methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteraemia reporting schemes, which are not covered in this report.

Rates were calculated using 2008 resident population denominators published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

A total of 12,454 Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia were reported in England (11,232), Wales (633), and Northern Ireland (589) through the voluntary reporting scheme in 2008. This total represents a decrease of 12% compared to voluntary data from 2007. Reports for 2008 are provisional as of 22 September 2009 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.

• Voluntary surveillance of Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia in England, Wales and Northern Ireland 2003-2007 (PDF, 180 KB)
  2007 S. aureus HPR document
  Added/updated: 19 November 2009
  
• Voluntary surveillance of Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia in England, Wales and Northern Ireland: Jan-Dec 2008 (PDF, 735 KB)
  Added/updated: 19 November 2009