Evaluation of the Australian Gonococcal Surveillance Programme

Area of Science:

• Microbiology
• Public Health Surveillance
• Infectious Disease Epidemiology

Background:

• The Australian Gonococcal Surveillance Programme (AGSP) is a critical laboratory network for monitoring antibiotic susceptibility in Neisseria gonorrhoeae.
• Antimicrobial resistance in gonorrhea poses a significant public health threat, necessitating robust surveillance systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the simplicity, flexibility, sensitivity, representativeness, timeliness, and acceptability of the AGSP.
• To assess the utility of the World Health Organization's (WHO) Questionnaire for Assessment of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) National Networks.

Main Methods:

• Utilized the WHO Questionnaire for Assessment of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) National Networks for evaluation.
• Assessed key performance indicators of the AGSP including structural elements and data utilization.

Main Results:

• The AGSP was found to be simple, acceptable, and timely, with actively used data.
• Challenges to flexibility, representativeness, and sensitivity were identified due to the rise of molecular diagnostic methods reducing isolate availability.
• The AGSP successfully identified geographic variations in antimicrobial susceptibility and informed treatment guidelines.

Conclusions:

• The AGSP is a valuable tool for gonorrhea surveillance, but requires enhancements to maintain sensitivity and representativeness.
• Improving data accessibility via a website and linking AGSP data with notification data are recommended.
• The WHO questionnaire is useful but would benefit from inclusion of assessment benchmarks.