Welcome to the FAQ page of the website for the BSAC Resistance Surveillance Project
What is the correct form of CITATION for data from the website?
Please cite 'BSAC Resistance Surveillance Project' (or 'BSAC Bacteraemia Resistance Surveillance Programme' or 'BSAC Respiratory Resistance Surveillance Programme' as appropriate for individual studies) and give both the website address www.bsacsurv.org and the date you accessed the data here. You may also want to cite peer-reviewed articles describing the methodology of both surveillance programmes - see FAQ ?Where is the methodology of the project described??
Where is the METHODOLOGY of the project described?
The primary journal article describing the methodology of both surveillance programmes is Reynolds, R., Hope, R., Williams, L., and on behalf of the BSAC Working Parties on Resistance Surveillance, Survey, laboratory, and statistical methods for the BSAC Resistance Surveillance Programmes. Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, 2008. 62(Suppl 2): p. ii15 - ii28. Statistical issues are covered in more detail in Reynolds, R., Lambert, P. and Burton, P. on behalf of the BSAC Working Parties on Resistance Surveillance. Analysis, power and design of antimicrobial resistance surveillance studies, taking account of inter-centre variation and turnover. Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, 2008. 62(Suppl 2): p. ii29 - ii39. Earlier descriptions were published in Reynolds, R. et al. (2003). JAC 52, 931-943. and Reynolds, R. (2004). JAC 53, 1018-1032. You can obtain copies of this article, and all the other publications of the BSAC Resistance Surveillance Project through the ?publications? link. The current protocols are available through the ?protocols? link.
Help! The RESULTS SEEM TO HAVE CHANGED since I last looked at the website. What is going on?
The most likely reason is that the breakpoints have changed, and therefore the percentage susceptible/intermediate/resistant has changed. Check the breakpoints link to see what breakpoints have been used at different times - they change at least annually. Occasionally, we also need to make corrections to the data. A list of these changes will be made available on the web in the future. Meanwhile, if you are concerned about an apparent change, you can contact the Resistance Surveillance Co-ordinator using the address in the 'Contact Us' link. Please say which organism, season and summary you are asking about, and which antibiotics are involved.
How can I find out about METHICILLIN RESISTANCE and MRSA?
Methicillin resistance is now listed as a mechanism, so select Staphylococcus aureus or coagulase-negative staphylococci from the organism list and mechanisms from the summary list. MRSA are methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Methicillin is no longer available and oxacillin is tested in its place. We define isolates as methicillin resistant if they are resistant to oxacillin and/or test positive for the mecA gene in molecular tests. We began testing for mecA in 2005 for S. aureus and in 2006 for coagulase-negative staphylococci.
WHAT DOES SPP. MEAN when individual species are listed as well?
spp. always means 'All isolates of the genus listed'. So, for example, in Bacteraemia 2005, you can select Klebsiella oxytoca (61 isolates), or Klebsiella pneumoniae (174 isolates), or Klebsiella spp (243 isolates, of which 61 are oxytoca, 174 pneumoniae, and 8 others).
Why do some antimicrobials APPEAR IN THE MIC SUMMARY BUT NOT IN THE SIR SUMMARY?
There are two possible reasons for this. One is that there is no breakpoint for the organism/antimicrobial combination, so it is not possible to classify isolates as susceptible/intermediate/resistant. Another is that the combination is excluded: for example, MRSA are considered to be resistant to all beta-lactams, so individual beta-lactams are not included in the SIR tables for S. aureus or MRSA, but are included for MSSA.
What ORGANISM / ANTIMICROBIAL COMBINATIONS are tested?
This varies slightly from year to year. Choose isolates from the summary list to see the number of isolates tested with each antimicrobial for your selected organism(s), year(s) and country.
Can I RE-USE THE MATERIAL for slide presentations and publications?
You are welcome to report the data presented here so long as you acknowledge the source. Please cite 'BSAC Bacteraemia Resistance Surveillance Programme' or 'BSAC Respiratory Resistance Surveillance Programme' as appropriate, plus the website address www.bsacsurv.org and the date you accessed the data here.
Is it possible to obtain these isolates to do FURTHER RESEARCH on them?
Yes. Use the 'Contact Us' link to let us know what you have in mind.
Can we include a LINK to this website in ours?
Yes, please do! (We would love to hear about it too - let us know using the address in the 'Contact Us' link.)
Can I COPY THE DATA onto my computer?
Yes. Select the area of the table that interests you and copy it (ctrl C in Windows). Then you can paste it into a spreadsheet program (ctrl V) to create graphs or do further calculations.
