National Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance (EARS-Net Ireland) Previously National Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance

The European Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System (EARSS) was established in 1999 in response to the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance in Europe. In 2010 EARSS coordination was transferred to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and renamed the European Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Network (EARS-Net).

EARS-Net Ireland comprises a network of 36 microbiological laboratories serving 60 acute hospitals (both public and private) in Ireland that collects routinely-generated antimicrobial susceptibility testing data on invasive infections caused by eight important bacterial pathogens: S. aureus, S. pneumoniae, E. coli, E. faecalis, E. faecium, K. pneumoniae, P. aeruginosa and Acinetobacter spp.

Additionally, data are collected on invasive cases of:  Group A and Group B streptococci  Candida spp. to check for the presence of C. auris, an important emerging pathogen.

Purpose: To monitor trends in antimicrobial resistance data from 8 key pathogens (listed above) in order to inform infection prevention and control teams and other policy decision makers. The data from EARS-Net are used to produce a national report on S. aureus/MRSA bacteraemia by acute hospital.

Coverage: All microbiology laboratories are required to participate in EARS-Net surveillance. However, resource issues can result in labs suspending their participation.

Between 2017 and 2020, coverage of the Irish population has exceeded 95%.

Data are available from 1999-2021.