EARSS is an international network of national surveillance systems funded by DG SANCO of the European Commission, which collects validated antimicrobial susceptibility data through comparable methods. This public health project commenced in April 1998 and performs on-going antibiotic sensitivity surveillance of invasive strains Streptococcus pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Enterococcus faecium/faecalis isolated from routine blood culture.
By April 2002 about 600 microbiological laboratories, serving some 950 hospitals from 26 countries have provided susceptibility data about 65,000 isolates. The EARSS official web-site can be accessed at www.earss.rivm.nl.
Malta started participating in the EARSS project in January 2000. Data is forwarded regularly to the Infection Control Unit by the Bacteriology laboratory of St. Luke's Hospital. After input, it is submitted quarterly to RIVM in the Netherlands.
The Maltese data of the combined isolates for the years 2001 and 2002 can be downloaded by organism and origin.
Select the organism and specify whether you prefer to see the percentage sensitivity of these organisms for ITU or for all wards except ITU. A pdf version is also available to make printing and usage of this data easier.
