Antibiograms
Health service organisations need to monitor antimicrobial use and resistance as a part of the NSQHS Standards Preventing and Controlling Infections Standard. Antibiograms support antimicrobial stewardship programs in the development of local treatment guidelines and formulary management.
Using hospital-level antibiograms
The second edition of the NSQHS Standards requires the monitoring, assessment and use of surveillance data to reduce the risks associated with healthcare-associated infections and support antimicrobial prescribing. Health service organisations may use cumulative hospital-level antibiograms as part of this process.
What are 'antibiograms'?
Antibiograms are tables of antimicrobial susceptibilities compiled according to a specific set of standards. Antibiograms are an aid that can support antimicrobial stewardship programs in the development of local treatment guidelines and formulary management. Due to the complexity of antibiogram development and interpretation, the provision of antibiograms, and their use for clinical purposes, should ideally be governed and supported by local microbiology and/or infectious diseases clinicians, as part of an antimicrobial stewardship program.
The Commission supports a standardised approach to the development of antibiograms at the hospital level, in conjunction with the relevant clinical specialists.
As part of AURA Surveillance System, the national passive antimicrobial resistance (AMR) surveillance system, known as Australian Passive AMR Surveillance (APAS), provides reports of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) at the local, jurisdictional and national levels. APAS provides clinicians and policy-makers access to enhanced resistance information, data and reports to inform appropriate responses to AMR. APAS also provides participating laboratories with access to a data cube which enables preparation of local reports and antibiograms to support antimicrobial stewardship teams.
