The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care has completed a review and update of the Implementation Guide for the Surveillance of Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia. The purpose of the Guide is to support standardised national surveillance and reporting of Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia in Australian public hospitals. 

As part of this review the following changes have been made to the case definition:

• A change in terminology to Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infection (SABSI) to more accurately reflect the clinical disease
• Criterion A addressing infections detected 48 hours after admission or less than 48 hours after discharge, has been separated into two sub criteria (A1 and A2) to clarify the concept of “incubating on admission”
• Criterion B2 addressing infection associated with surgery, has been revised to include an extended surveillance period for deep incisional/organ space infections related to surgically implanted devices, recognising the possibility of a delay in presentation of infection
• Criterion B4 addressing infection associated with neutropenia, has been revised to clarify that the application of the criteria is only for situations where the infection is not associated with an indwelling medical device (covered by Criterion B1).

The updated guide has been endorsed for implementation on 1 July 2021.  It is available on the Commission’s website and can be accessed here.