Laboratory characterization

Pathogens	Tests
Influenza	Identification by PCR or viral culture Subtyping of all influenza A isolates
group A streptococcus	emm and T typing of all isolates SOF sequence typing of a subset of isolates Antimicrobial susceptibility testing of a subset of isolates
group B streptococcus	Serotyping of isolates from selected surveillance areas Antimicrobial susceptibility testing of isolates from selected surveillance areas
Streptococcus pneumoniae	Antimicrobial susceptibility testing of all isolates Serotyping of all isolates Progressing toward clonal typing of isolates using MLST Characterization of resistance mechanisms of selected strains based on phenotypic resistance patterns