Mandatory surveillance

The HPA undertakes 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.

• Mandatory Staphylococcus aureus (including MRSA) bacteraemia on the Staphylococcus aureus epidemiology pages
• Mandatory Escherichia coli bacteraemia  on the E. coli mandatory surveillance pages
• Mandatory glycopeptide-resistant enterococci (GRE) bacteraemia on the Enterococcus and GRE surveillance pages