Surveillance Infection Diseases by National Reference Centres humane microbiology: Drug resistentie bij DNA virussen

Since 2011, the Sciensano Infectious Disease Epidemiology Service, in charge of infectious disease surveillance, has been coordinating a network of reference human microbiology laboratories called National Reference Centres (CNRs).
Each NRC, composed of one or more laboratories, is designated as such for a pathogen or group of pathogens according to well-defined criteria in a procedure that is repeated at a maximum interval of 5 years. The Royal Decree of 9/2/2011 sets out the legal and financial framework in which CNRs operate and the tasks they must perform. NRC activities cover 41 pathogens or groups of pathogens identified as priorities due to needs in terms of diagnosis, quality of care and public health. NRCs therefore support healthcare providers and epidemiologists by transmitting microbiological and epidemiological data to Sciensano once a year.
The role of NRCs is to contribute to the confirmation and/or diagnosis of certain pathogens (rare or difficult to identify) in samples sent by peripheral laboratories and to perform the characterisation of the referred strains (genotyping, antigen review, antibiotic resistance study and other tests). The characterisation of strains is important to detect the emergence of new pathogens, observe the evolution of virulence and the distribution of circulating strains. These data help to assess the effectiveness of health policies such as vaccination and antibiotic effectiveness. NRCs are also required to provide support to laboratories for laboratory techniques and to authorities in the management of health threats.
This project concerns NRC “Drug resistentie bij DNA virussen”.