Presentation from the 3rd Joint Meeting of the Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare-Associated Infections (ARHAI) Networks, organised by the European Centre of Disease Prevention and Control - Stockholm, 11-13 February 2015

1. 3rd Joint Meeting of the Antimicrobial Resistance and
Healthcare-Associated Infections (ARHAI) Networks
Report from EARS-Net sessions
Rapporteur: Gunnar Skov Simonsen (Norway)
Organised jointly with

2. Main points that were discussed
1. EARSS / EARS-Net 15 years anniversary
2. The history / science / art of AMR surveillance
3. Generally happy with what has been achieved so far!
4. Data not sufficiently utilized
5. Differentiate between surveillance and targeted surveys
6. National experiences
 Ireland (VRE, MDR-KP)
 Portugal (PPCIRA programme)
 Germany (MRSA, EC-ESBL)
 Italy (CRE, Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter)
7. Transatlantic perspectives – CDC / CAESAR – WHO EURO

3. Main points that were discussed
8. Overview of 2014 input, planning of 2015 data call
9. Future of Acinetobacter spp. surveillance
10.Comparability of S. pneumoniae data for penicillin
11.WHONET support for EARS-Net and software development
12.ECDC data access rules
13.Summary of EARS-Net EQA results
14.Molecular surveillance in structured EARS-Net surveys
15.EuSCAPE – European survey of CPE
16.Acquired versus natural resistance – the ecology of resistance

4. Conclusions
1. Better use of AMR data both by ECDC and others
2. Country presentations with good templates for
implementation of AMR surveillance and containment, often
with regional component and increased political / regulatory
focus
3. The 2015 data call (AMR and denominator data) as in
previous years, common hospital identifier may improve
quality of denominator data in the future
4. Continuation of Acinetobacter spp. surveillance
5. Use oxacillin screen as proxy for penicillin in S. pneumoniae

5. Perspectives
1. EARS-Net is a mature surveillance network
 Ability to map the problem
 Monitor changes and effect of interventions
 Form a template for other regions
 More extensive use of data, better integration with other
surveillance programs and in-depth molecular
surveys