title: Integrated Multilevel Surveillance of the World's Infecting Microbes and Their Resistance to Antimicrobial Agents.
abstract: Microbial surveillance systems have varied in their source of support; type of laboratory reporting (patient care or reference); inclusiveness of reports filed; extent of microbial typing; whether single hospital, multihospital, or multicountry; proportion of total medical centers participating; and types, levels, integration across levels, and automation of analyses performed. These surveillance systems variably support the diagnosis and treatment of patients, local or regional infection control, local or national policies and guidelines, laboratory capacity building, sentinel surveillance, and patient safety. Overall, however, only a small fraction of available data are under any surveillance, and very few data are fully integrated and analyzed. Advancing informatics and genomics can make microbial surveillance far more efficient and effective at preventing infections and improving their outcomes. The world's microbiology laboratories should upload their reports each day to programs that detect events, trends, and epidemics in communities, hospitals, countries, and the world.
authors.affiliation: The World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Surveillance of Antimicrobial Resistance, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. tobrien@rics.bwh.harvard.edu
authors.forename: Thomas F
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: O'Brien
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Stelling
mesh_terms: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D003625:Data Collection; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D006801:Humans; D007391:International Cooperation; D018571:Sentinel Surveillance
chemical_list: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents