Antimicrobial surveillance

BACKGROUND: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is recognized globally as a significant health challenge, but its extent remains unclear in many regions. It is crucial to prioritize a foundational evaluation of AMR prevalence to facilitate the implementation of laboratory-based surveillance. Adopting a One Health perspective, this study outlines the present AMR status in the Middle East. AIM: To synthesize the current state of knowledge on AMR in the Middle East, delineate the contributions of different sectors (human health, animal health, and environment), and discern the effectiveness of One Health interventions in mitigating AMR...

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has contributed to the spread of antimicrobial resistance, including carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales. METHODS: This study utilized data from the Study for Monitoring Antimicrobial Resistance Trends (SMART) surveillance program in Taiwan. Enterobacterales from patients with bloodstream infections (BSIs) were collected and subjected to antimicrobial susceptibility testing and β-lactamase gene detection using a multiplex PCR assay...

BACKGROUND: Typhoid fever is a common cause of febrile illness in low- and middle-income countries. While multidrug-resistant (MDR) Salmonella Typhi (S. Typhi) has spread globally, fluoroquinolone resistance has mainly affected Asia. METHODS: Consecutively, 1038 blood cultures were obtained from patients of all age groups with fever and/or suspicion of serious systemic infection admitted at Mnazi Mmoja Hospital, Zanzibar in 2015-2016. S. Typhi were analyzed with antimicrobial susceptibility testing and with short read (61 strains) and long read (9 strains) whole genome sequencing, including three S...

OBJECTIVES: To characterize and elucidate the spread of amikacin-resistant Enterobacteriaceae isolates from environmental samples on a pig farm in the UK, following the previous identification of index Salmonella isolates harbouring the rmtB gene, a 16S rRNA methylase. METHODS: Environmental samples were collected during two visits to a pig farm in the UK. Isolates were recovered using selective media (amikacin 128 mg/L) followed by real-time PCR and WGS to analyse rmtB-carrying Salmonella and Escherichia coli isolates...

The spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major global concern, and the islands of the Southwest Indian Ocean (SWIO) are not exempt from this phenomenon. As strategic crossroads between Southern Africa and the Indian subcontinent, these islands are constantly threatened by the importation of multidrug-resistant bacteria from these regions. In this systematic review, our aim was to assess the epidemiological situation of AMR in humans in the SWIO islands, focusing on bacterial species listed as priority by the World Health Organization...

BACKGROUND: Urinary tract infection (UTI) associated with Klebsiella pneumoniae poses a serious threat for inpatients. This study aimed to describe the genomic characteristics of K. pneumoniae causing UTI in a tertiary-care hospital in Beijing, China. METHODS: A total of 20 K. pneumoniae strains collected from 2020 to 2021 were performed whole-genome sequencing. The Antibiotic susceptibility of 19 common antimicrobial agents was tested against all strains. The multi-locus sequence types (MLSTs) and serotypes were determined from the WGS data...

OBJECTIVE: Salmonella enterica serovar Kentucky ST198 has emerged as a global threat to humans. In this study, we aimed to characterize the prolonged carriage of ciprofloxacin-resistant and extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing S . Kentucky ST198 in a single patient with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). METHODS: Three S . Kentucky strains were collected from a single patient with IBD on 11th January, 23rd January, and 8th February, 2022, respectively...

Wastewater analysis can serve as a source of public health information. In recent years, wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) has emerged and proven useful for the detection of infectious diseases. However, insights from the wastewater treatment plant do not allow for the small-scale differentiation within the sewer system that is needed to analyze the target population under study in more detail. Small-scale WBE offers several advantages, but there has been no systematic overview of its application. The aim of this scoping review is to provide a comprehensive overview of the current state of knowledge on small-scale WBE for infectious diseases, including methodological considerations for its application...

Increased antimicrobial resistance (AMR) among bacteria underscores the need to strengthen AMR surveillance and promote data-based prescribing. To evaluate trends and associations between antimicrobial usage (AMU) and AMR, we explored a dataset of 34,672 bacterial isolates collected between 2015 and 2020 from clinical samples at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) in Lusaka, Zambia. The most frequently isolated species were Escherichia coli (4,986/34,672; 14.4%), Staphylococcus aureus (3,941/34,672; 11.4%), and Klebsiella pneumoniae (3,796/34,672; 10...

BACKGROUND: A well-established antimicrobial resistance (AMR) laboratory-based surveillance (LBS) is of utmost importance in a country like Zambia which bears a significant proportion of the world's communicable disease burden. This study assessed the capacity of laboratories in selected hospitals to conduct AMR surveillance in Zambia. METHODS: This cross-sectional exploratory study was conducted among eight (8) purposively selected hospitals in Zambia between August 2023 and December 2023...

Non-ventilated hospital acquired pneumonia (NV-HAP) is associated with significant healthcare burden, arising from high incidence and associated morbidity and mortality. However, accurately identifying cases remains challenging. At present there is no gold-standard test for the diagnosis of NV-HAP, requiring instead the blending of non-specific signs and investigations. Causative organisms are only identified in a minority of cases. This has significant implications for surveillance, patient outcomes and antimicrobial stewardship...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Antibiotic resistance presents a significant global public health challenge, particularly for urinary tract infections (UTIs), and is notably severe in developing countries. Surveillance of the antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of UTI-causing bacteria is crucial for effective treatment selection. This study aimed to analyze these patterns in bacteria isolated from the urine samples of patients at Mughda Medical College Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh. METHODS: A retrospective study (January 2019 to December 2020) at Mugdha Medical College and Hospital, Dhaka, examined clinical and laboratory data from patients with positive urine cultures (≥105 CFU/mL)...

BACKGROUND: Regular quality-assured whole-genome sequencing linked to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and patient metadata is imperative to elucidate the shifting gonorrhoea epidemiology, both nationally and internationally. We aimed to examine the gonococcal population in the European Economic Area (EEA) in 2020, elucidate emerging and disappearing gonococcal lineages associated with AMR and patient metadata, compare with 2013 and 2018 whole-genome sequencing data, and explain changes in gonococcal AMR and gonorrhoea epidemiology...

OBJECTIVES: To report trends in carbapenem resistance and difficult-to-treat resistance (DTR) among clinical isolates of Gram-negative priority pathogens collected by the ATLAS global surveillance program from 2018 to 2022. METHODS: Reference broth microdilution testing was performed in a central laboratory for 79,214 Enterobacterales, 30,504 Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and 13,500 Acinetobacter baumannii-calcoaceticus complex isolates collected by a constant set of 157 medical centres in 49 countries in Asia Pacific (APAC), Europe (EUR), Latin America (LATAM), Middle East-Africa (MEA), and North America (NA) regions...

BACKGROUND: Global estimates of sepsis mortality are based on multiple causes of death (MCOD, any mention of the condition on death certificates); however, MCOD data are sparse and mainly referring to the pre-pandemic period. OBJECTIVES: To investigate recent trends in sepsis-related mortality, associated sites of infection, and comorbidities in Veneto (Northeastern Italy). METHODS: Mortality records from 2008 to 2022 were extracted, and sepsis-related mortality was assessed based both on the underlying cause of death (UCOD) and on MCOD...

UNLABELLED: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a global health threat, causing millions of deaths annually, with expectations of increased impact in the future. Wastewater surveillance offers a cost-effective, non-invasive tool to understand AMR carriage trends within a population. We monitored extended-spectrum β-lactamase producing Escherichia coli (ESBL- E. coli ) weekly in influent wastewater from six wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Switzerland (November 2021 to November 2022) to investigate spatio-temporal variations, explore correlations with environmental variables, develop a predictive model for ESBL- E...

BackgroundCarbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales are a public health threat worldwide and OXA-48 is the most prevalent carbapenemase in Germany and western Europe. However, the molecular epidemiology of OXA-48 in species other than Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae remains poorly understood.AimTo analyse the molecular epidemiology of OXA-48 and OXA-48-like carbapenemases in Citrobacter species (spp.) in Germany between 2011 and 2022.MethodsData of 26,822 Enterobacterales isolates sent to the National Reference Centre (NRC) for Gram-negative bacteria were evaluated...

BackgroundAs increasing antibiotic resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii poses a global healthcare challenge, understanding its evolution is crucial for effective control strategies.AimWe aimed to evaluate the epidemiology, antimicrobial susceptibility and main resistance mechanisms of Acinetobacter spp. in Spain in 2020, and to explore temporal trends of A. baumannii .MethodsWe collected 199 single-patient Acinetobacter spp. clinical isolates in 2020 from 18 Spanish tertiary hospitals. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) for nine antimicrobials were determined...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: This study aims to assess the prevalence and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of bacterial infections associated with both early-onset sepsis (EOS) and late-onset sepsis (LOS). METHODOLOGY: This descriptive retrospective surveillance research was conducted on all neonates admitted to the neonatal ICU with bacterial sepsis, where positive cultures were isolated from sterile sites (either cerebrospinal fluid or blood) at Tawam Hospital, Al Ain, Emirate of Abu Dhabi, UAE, from January 2012 and December 2021...

The emergence and spread of β-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae poses a significant threat to public health, necessitating the rapid detection and investigation of the molecular epidemiology of these pathogens. We modified a multiplex real-time (RT)-PCR to concurrently detect β-lactamase genes (blaCTX-M, blaTEM, and blaSHV) and Enterobacteriaceae 16S ribosomal RNA. qPCR probes and primers were validated using control isolates, and the sensitivity and specificity assessed. The optimised multiplex qPCR was used to screen 220 non-clinical Enterobacteriaceae from food animals and in-contact humans in Southeast Nigeria selected on cefotaxime-supplemented agar plates...