Background: No Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia (SAB) surveillance program captures all cases of SAB within a jurisdiction and performs enhanced surveillance on each case. To accurately determine incidence and epidemiology of SAB at a population level, a surveillance system needs to captures information from all settings, not just from acute hospitals.
Aim: The primary aim of this research is to understand the epidemiology of SAB in Tasmania. A secondary aim is to quantify the extent to which SAB incidence is under reported if only public hospital data are reported.
Methods: By utilising a public health notification process, all SAB cases identified between the 1st January 2009 and the 31st December 2010 were investigated. National surveillance definitions for SAB were used. Incidence was calculated using Australian Bureau of Statistics population data.
Results: 215 cases of SAB were identified during the study period. 90 (41.9%) were healthcare associated (HA) and 125 (58.1%) were community associated (CA). The incidence of SAB within Tasmania was 21.35 per 100,000 population per year (12.41 and 8.94 per 100,000 for CA and HCA SAB respectively). 189 (87.9%) cases were identified in Tasmanian public hospitals; 24 (11.2 %) in private hospitals and 2 (0.9%) were identified outside hospital facilities.
Conclusion: The study represents the first Australian report of SAB incidence at a State level, ensuring all cases of SAB were captured. The results suggest that by not including private hospitals or community settings in surveillance data, approximately 13% of SAB cases will be missed.