Comparison between local and national epidemiology of antimicrobial resistance using the JANIS data

The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare established the Japanese Nosocomial Infection Surveillance (JANIS) system in July 2000 to provide nationwide epidemiological information. The data of all clinically isolated bacteria at participating hospitals were collected, treated according to a protocol, and analyzed by the JANIS office. Nationwide and individual hospital data were reported to participating hospitals monthly and yearly. In this study, we surveyed local antimicrobial resistance of clinically isolated bacteria in Kawasaki City between 2014 and 2016 using JANIS data. There were 8, 14, and 16 major hospitals in Kawasaki City that participated in the surveillance in 2014, 2015, and 2016, respectively. The data were returned to each hospital monthly from JANIS, totaled for Kawasaki City, and compared with the nationwide data. The Kawasaki City data were approximately the same as the nationwide data, and most resistant bacteria decreased gradually over the three years examined. The incidence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in S. aureus (Kawasaki City, Japan) was (56.6%, 48.8%), (50.5%, 47.9%), and (51.6%, 46.9%), the incidence of penicillin-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae (PRSP) in S. pneumoniae, was (43.4%, 37.5%), (34.3%, 38.0%), and (31.4%, 36.9%) in 2014, 2015, and 2016, respectively. Therefore, in Kawasaki City the incidence of MRSA was relatively higher and that of PRSP was relatively lower than the nationwide incidences. Both continuous local and national surveillance are important for monitoring antimicrobial resistance in clinical isolates. The JANIS database is a powerful tool for the epidemiology of nosocomial infections in Japanese hospitals.