TDT

Data Challenge – Comparative Analysis of Antimicrobial Resistance Trends Between High- and Low-Resource Countries and the Burden of Multidrug-Resistant Organisms in African Hospitals. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing global health threat that reduces the effectiveness of antibiotics used to treat common infections. Although AMR affects all countries, the burden is often greater in low-resource settings where access to diagnostics, infection prevention measures, antimicrobial stewardship programs, and surveillance systems may be limited. Understanding differences in resistance patterns between high- and low-resource countries, as well as the burden of multidrug-resistant infections in African hospitals, is important for improving global AMR responses. This project will use data from the Pfizer ATLAS surveillance program together with the SPIDAAR dataset. The ATLAS dataset contains over one million bacterial isolates collected from multiple countries over two decades, while SPIDAAR provides data on healthcare-associated infections and multidrug-resistant organisms in hospitals across Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, and Uganda. The study will compare resistance trends among priority bacterial pathogens and commonly used antibiotics between high-resource and low-resource countries, while also examining the burden and clinical impact of multidrug-resistant infections in African healthcare settings. The research aims to improve patient outcomes by identifying regions and pathogen-antibiotic combinations where the risk of treatment failure is increasing and by highlighting resistant infections associated with prolonged hospitalization and poor clinical outcomes. These findings may support clinicians in selecting more appropriate empiric therapies and recognizing resistant infections earlier. The study will strengthen antimicrobial stewardship by identifying antibiotics that may be losing effectiveness in specific settings and by supporting more evidence-based prescribing practices and targeted stewardship interventions. The findings will also inform public health practice by highlighting geographical disparities in AMR burden and identifying areas where surveillance, infection prevention, and control efforts may require strengthening. In addition, the project may support health systems by demonstrating the importance of sustained AMR surveillance and data-driven decision-making for improving laboratory capacity, stewardship programs, and infection prevention strategies, particularly in resource-limited settings.