Elizabeth Anne Scicluna
Part-time Assistant lecturer Applied Biomedical Sciences
BIOGRAPHY
I graduated from the University of Malta in Medical Laboratory Sciences in 1998 and obtained my
MSc in Epidemiology: Principles and Practice from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical
Medicine in London, UK in 2001. At present I work as Epidemiologist at the Infection Control Unit
at Mater Dei Hospital. My interest is mainly in surveillance of antimicrobial resistance and control
of nosocomial infections. I am involved in continuous laboratory surveillance of alert organisms
isolated at the microbiology laboratory of the same hospital, together with continuous monitoring of
antimicrobial susceptibility patterns. Prior to this I worked for 10 years at the Microbiology
Laboratory of St Luke’s Hospital. For 2 years I was in charge of the teaching lab of the Institute of
Health Care and after this I started teaching Epidemiology at the University of Malta, first as
occasional lecturer and than was appointed as Assistant Lecturer in 2004.
PUBLICATIONS
Borg MA & Scicluna EA. Over-the-counter acquisition of antibiotics in the Maltese general
population. International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents Vol 20 (4) 2002: 253-257
Borg MA & Scicluna EA. Antibiotic resistance in the Mediterranean region: the ARMed project.
Eurosurveillance
Weekly,
2004
Feb:
8
(7);
http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=2384
Borg MA, Cookson B, Scicluna EA & the ARMed Project Steering Group & Collaborators.
National infection control initiatives within countries of the southern and eastern Mediterranean.
Journal of Hospital Infections Vol 60 (2) 2005: 182-185
Grigoryan L, Haaijer-Ruskamp FM, Burgerhof JGM, Mechtler R, Deschepper R, TambicAndrasevic A, Andrajati R, Monnet DL, Cunney R, Di Matteo A, Edelstein H, Valinteliene R,
Alkerwi A, Scicluna EA, Grzesiowski P, Bara AC, Tesar T, Cizman M, Campos J, Lundborg C
and Birkin J. Self-medication with antimicrobial drugs in Europe. Emerging Infectious Diseases.
Vol 12 (3) 2006: 452-459
Borg MA, Scicluna E, de Kraker M, van de Sande-Bruinsma N, Tiemersma E, Gür D, Ben Redjeb
S, Rasslan O, Elnassar Z, Benbachir M, Pieridou Bagatzouni D, Rahal K, Daoud Z, Grundmann H,
Monen J. Antibiotic Resistance in the South-Eastern Mediterranean – preliminary results from the
ARMed
project.
Eurosurveillance
Monthly.
July-August
2006;
http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=639
Borg M, Cookson B, Scicluna E & ARMed Project Steering Group & Collaborators. Survey of
infection control infrastructure present in selected Southern and Eastern Mediterranean hospitals.
Clinical Microbiology and Infection Vol 13 (3) 2007: 344-346
Scicluna EA, Haider J, Borg M & Cuschieri P. Prevalence of Beta-Lactamase producing
Enterobacteriaceae in Maltese hospitalised patients. Journal of Hospital Infection. Vol 65 2007: 8688
Grigoryan L, Burgerhof JGM, Haaijer-Ruskamp FM, Degener JE, Deschepper R, Monnet DL, Di
Matteo A, Scicluna EA, Bara AC, Stålsby Lundborg C, Birkin J, on behalf of the SAR group. Is
self-medication with antibiotics in Europe driven by prescribed use? Journal of Antimicrobial
Chemotherapy 2007 Jan;59(1):152-6
Grigoryan L, Burgerhof JGM, Degener JE, Deschepper R, Stalsby Lundborg C, Monnet DL,
Scicluna EA, Birkin J, Haaijer-Ruskamp FM on behalf of the SAR consortium. Attitudes, beliefs
and knowledge concerning antibiotic use and self-medication: a comparative European study.
Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety 2007. Published online in Wiley InterScience
(www.interscience.wiley.com) DOI: 10.1002/pds.1479
Chetcuti S, Montefort M, Scicluna E, Borg M. Coming clean on hand hygiene. Malta Medical
Journal 2007; 19(3):23-29
Borg M, de Kraker M, Scicluna E, van de Sande-Bruinsma N, Tiemersma E, Monen J, Grundmann
H, on behalf of the ARMed Project. Prevalence of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus
(MRSA) in invasive isolates from Southern and Eastern Mediterranean countries. Journal of
Antimicrobial Chemotherapy 2007 Dec;60(6):1310-5.
Scicluna EA, Hanberger H. Surveillance of Antimicrobial Resistance in Intensive Care Setting at St
Luke’s Hospital, Malta. International Journal of Infection Control 2007; 3(2). Available online from
URL: http://www.ijic.info/article/ view/2389/1831 (doi: 10.3396/03-01-14-07)
Grigoryan L, Burgerhof J, Degener J, Deschepper R, Stalsby Lundborg C, Monnet DL, Scicluna E,
Birkin J, Haaijer-Ruskamp F, on behalf of the Self-Medication with Antibiotics and Resistance
(SAR) Consortium. Determinants of self-medication with antibiotics in Europe: the impact of
beliefs, country wealth and the health care system. Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy 2008;
published at http://jac.oxfordjournals.org/ on February 22, 2008 (doi:10.1093/jac/dkn054).
Borg MA, Suda D, Scicluna E. Time-Series Analysis of the Impact of Bed Occupancy Rates on the
Incidence of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Infection in Overcrowded General
Wards. Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology 2008; 29(6):496-502
Borg MA, van de Sande-Bruinsma N, Scicluna E, de Kraker M, Tiemersma E, Monen J,
Grundmann H, on behalf of the ARMed Project members and collaborators. Antimicrobial
resistance in invasive strains of Escherichia coli from Southern and Eastern Mediterranean
laboratories. Clinical Microbiology and Infection 2008; 14: 789-796. (doi: 10.1111/j.14690691.2008.02037.x)
Hanberger H, Arman D, Gill H, Jindrák V, Kalenic S, Kurcz A, Licker M, Naaber P, Scicluna EA,
Vanis V, Walther S. Surveillance of microbial resistance in European Intensive Care Units. A first
report from the Care-ICU programme for improved infection control. Intensive Care Medicine
2009; 35(1): 91-100 (doi: 10.1007/s00134-008-1237-y)
Borg MA, Tiemersma E, Scicluna E, van de Sande-Bruinsma N, de Kraker M, Monen J,
Grundmann H. Prevalence of penicillin and erythromycin resistance amongst Streptococcus
pneumoniae from invasive isolates reported by laboratories in the Southern and Eastern
Mediterranean. Clinical Microbiology and Infection 2009; 15(3): 232-237 (doi: 10.1111/j.14690691.2008.02651.x)
Borg MA, Cookson BD, Rasslan O, Gur D, Ben Redjeb S, Benbachir M, Rahal K, Bagatzouni DP,
Elnasser Z, Daoud Z, Scicluna EA. Correlation between meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
prevalence and infection control initiatives within southern and eastern Mediterranean hospitals.
Journal of Hospital Infection 2009; 7:36-42. (doi:10.1016/j.jhin.2008.09.007)
Scicluna EA, Shore AC, Thürmer A, Ehricht R, Slickers P, Borg MA, Coleman C, Monecke S.
Characterisation of MRSA from Malta and the description of a Maltese epidemic MRSA strain. Eur
J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis (doi:10.1007/s10096-009-0834-1)
Scicluna EA, Borg MA, Gür D, Rasslan O, Taher I, Ben Redjeb S, Elnassar Z, Pieridou Bagatzouni
D, Daoud Z. Self-medication with antibiotics in the ambulatory care setting within the EuroMediterranean region; results from the ARMed project. Journal of Infection and Public Health
2009; 2(4): 189-197
Borg MA, Zarb P, Scicluna EA, Rasslan O, Gür D, Ben Redjeb S, Elnasser Z, Daoud Z. Antibiotic
consumption as a driver for resistance in Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli within
a developing region. American Journal of Infection Control, In Press, Available online 8 November
2009