Ms. Brighid Carey1, Ms. Jan Bell1, Dr Jan Gralton1, Conjoint Associate Professor Carolyn Hullick1, Ms. Kim Stewart1
1Acsqhc, Sydney, Australia
Biography:
Brighid Carey is the Manager of Antimicrobial Use and Resistance in Australia (AURA) at the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care. She has a background as a clinical pharmacist specialising in Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS) and has studied Pharmacy Practice and Leadership and Management. Brighid received First Class honours for her study, Feasibility of Antimicrobial Stewardship in Small Rural Hospitals of the New England Tablelands Cluster. She is also the Advocacy and Communications Officer for the NSW Branch Committee for the Society of Hospital Pharmacists.
Abstract:
Introduction
The National Alert System for Critical Antimicrobial Resistances (CARAlert) informs infection prevention and control (IPC) action for critical antimicrobial resistances (CARs), which are priority organisms uncommon in Australia with resistance to last-line antimicrobials, such as carbapenems.
Carbapenemase-producing organisms (CPOs), including Acinetobacter baumannii, Enterobacterales and Pseudomonas aeruginosa are reported to CARAlert and pose a significant risk to patient safety.
Method
CARAlert uses established laboratory testing and confirmation systems to capture data. Laboratories that confirm CARs enter results into a national database at the time of confirmation.
Results
Carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales (CPE) was the most frequently reported CAR in 2023 (1,205/2,686, 44.9%). Reports of CPE came from all jurisdictions and increased by 45.4% from 2022 (n=829).
Seventy-five reports of carbapenemase-producing P. aeruginosa in 2023 were from all states except Tasmania. Reports increased by 31.6% from 2022 (n=57).
In 2023, there were 37 reports of carbapenemase-producing A. baumannii from the Australian Capital Territory and all states except South Australia and Tasmania. This was an increase of 60.9% from 2022 (n=23).
A substantial majority of CPOs were reported from hospitals (1,101/1,317, 83.6%).
Conclusions
The results suggest there have been local outbreaks of CPOs and that there are variations across states and territories in surveillance, IPC and screening practices for CPOs. Despite low numbers, increasing reports of CPOs highlight the value of ongoing active surveillance in Australia and the importance of compliance with Australian Guidelines for the Prevention and Control of Infection in Healthcare and implementation of antimicrobial stewardship programs.