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Hospital-associated Staphylococcus aureus  bacteraemia (SAB), also known as golden staph bloodstream infection, is an important measure of the safety of hospital care. The aim is to have as few cases of SAB as possible. One of the most effective ways to minimise the risk of SAB and other healthcare-associated infections is good hand hygiene.

In 2011-12, there were 1,734 cases of SAB reported for Australian public hospitals overall. About three quarters (76%) were methicillin sensitive, and would have been treatable with commonly used anitbiotics.  

The cases occurred during approximately 18.5 million days of patient care under SAB surveillance during 2011-12.

All states and territories had rates of SAB below the national benchmark of 2.0 cases per 10,000 patient days, ranging from 0.7 cases per 10,000 patient days in Western Australia to 1.3 in the Northern Territory (Figure 28).

Figure 28: Cases of Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia per 10,000 days of patient care in public hospitals, states and territories, 2011-12

 Horizontal bar chart showing Australia, and states and territories on the y axis and cases per SAB per 10,000 days of pattient care on the x axis

For more information see: Admitted patient care: overview