Epidemiology

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Epidemiology Staff

Epidemiology Staff perform data analyses on surveillance typing and antimicrobial susceptibility data, for special projects and multi-jurisdictional outbreaks, and co-ordinate the Victorian Carbapenemase-producing enterobacteriaceae Surveillance and Response Unit (VCRSU); the Victorian Hospital Pathogens Surveillance Scheme (VHPSS); the National Enteric Pathogens Surveillance Scheme (NEPSS) and MDU PHL activities as a WHO Regional Reference Laboratory for the Invasive Bacterial – Vaccine Preventable Diseases Program (IB-VPD).

  • Victorian Carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae Surveillance and Response Unit (VCRSU)

    The Victorian Carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE) Surveillance and Response Unit was implemented in 2015 in response to increasing detection of CPE in Victoria. All Victorian CPE isolates are referred to MDU PHL for confirmation and genomic analysis. In conjunction with the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services and VICNISS, patients are interviewed and case records reviewed to ascertain possible transmission routes, with infection control intervention to prevent further spread.

    Antibiograms of Victorian carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales This document outlines the observed antimicrobial resistance patterns in Victorian carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales received at MDU PHL from 31st October 2018 by species, carbapenemase gene and travel history. This document may assist clinicians in guideline development and empirical therapy for the treatment of patients with suspected infection with a carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales.

  • The Victorian Hospital Pathogens Surveillance Scheme (VHPSS)

    The Victorian Hospital Pathogens Surveillance Scheme is a laboratory-based surveillance program for bacterial and fungal isolates from bloodstream infections and meningitis. The scheme was established in 1988 with contributors including metropolitan and regional laboratories throughout

  • National Enteric Pathogens Surveillance Scheme (NEPSS)

    The National Enteric Pathogens Surveillance Scheme was instigated in 1978 to provide timely and accurate information to support the monitoring and control of endemic and epidemic human infection with enteric pathogens throughout Australia. It serves as a repository of data on isolates from human gastrointestinal infections, and also includes data on enteric pathogens isolated from various non-human sources such as animals, food, food ingredients and environmental samples.

  • The WHO Invasive Bacterial-Vaccine Preventable Diseases Program

    The WHO Invasive Bacterial-Vaccine Preventable Diseases Program aims to enhance laboratory diagnosis of patients with bacterial meningitis due to Haemophilus influenzae, Neisseria meningitidis or Streptococcus pneumoniae. MDU PHL is one of two reference laboratories in the Western Pacific Region for this program, and is involved with regional training and quality control of bacterial detection and typing assays.