Australian Group on Antimicrobial Resistance surveillance outcome programs - bloodstream infections and antimicrobial resistance patterns from patients less than 18 years of age, January 2020 - December 2021.

From 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2021, thirty-eight institutions across Australia submitted data to the Australian Group on Antimicrobial Resistance (AGAR) from patients aged < 18 years (AGAR-Kids). Over the two years, 1,679 isolates were reported from 1,611 patients. This AGAR-Kids report aims to describe the population of children and adolescents with bacteraemia reported to AGAR and the proportion of resistant isolates. Overall, there were 902 gram-negative isolates reported: 800 , 61 and 41 spp. Among the , 12.9% were resistant to third generation cephalosporins; 11.6% to gentamicin/tobramycin; and 11.2% to piperacillin-tazobactam. In total, 14.5% of were multi-drug resistant (MDR). Only 3.3% of were resistant to carbapenems and 4.9% were MDR. Resistance in spp was uncommon. Of 607 isolates, 12.9% were methicillin-resistant (MRSA). Almost half of isolates from the Northern Territory were MRSA. In , resistance to erythromycin was 13.2%; 12.4% to clindamycin; and 5.3% to ciprofloxacin. Resistance to all antibiotics tested was higher in MRSA. Overall, 6.5% of were MDR, of which 65% were MRSA. Almost three-quarters of the 170 spp. reported were , and half were from patients < 1 year old. Ampicillin resistance in enterococci was 19.6%. Eight isolates were vancomycin resistant and three isolates were teicoplanin resistant. Five isolates were classified as MDR. This AGAR-Kids report highlights clear differences in the geographic distribution of pathogens and resistance profiles across Australia.