| What鈥疉MR-related data do you wish you had, that would help you to make better decisions?鈥 | What鈥痑re the barriers to better data collection鈥痑nd understanding of AMR?
| What鈥痗hanges鈥痑nd initiatives鈥痙o you hope to see鈥痠n terms鈥痮f data collection鈥痑nd at鈥痺hat鈥痩evel鈥痵hould they鈥痟appen鈥(local / national / international) over the next 5鈥痽ears? |
From the collection of responses, five themes emerged that emphasised both the importance of better data collection and tools needed, but also the power of local access and use of AMR data. We highlighted each of these themes as (formerly Twitter) over the week, as well as discussing them at our AMR Centre Seminar on Thursday (available to watch back ).
The was 鈥渓inking microbiology and patient data鈥. Many of our experts emphasized that without this data we cannot know what is 鈥渃linically significant鈥: when does AMR really matter for patient outcomes and, of all the variables we need or might measure when starting antibiotic treatment, which are most important for driving clinical outcomes as well as resistance development.
Our focused specifically on what is needed from AMR data 鈥渋n the hospital environment鈥 where the acute AMR problem manifests, highlighting the need to decide on how to prioritise interventions in resource limited settings. There was also emphasis on needing data on pathogen variation 鈥 what are patients carrying asymptomatically when they arrive in hospital, how does this affect treatment outcomes and how might different pathogen variants transmit differently. As well as an emphasis on the need to think about pathogens other than bacteria in the AMR space.
Linked to theme one, knowing the bug-drug populations being carried by a patient is key to treatment outcomes as well as interpretation of intervention impact. This point about the importance of colonization and mode of transmission was carried into our : 鈥渙utside the hospital鈥. Here our experts emphasized how data surveillance, of both AMR and antibiotic use in community and environmental settings was sparse and needed future work to unify surveillance systems. This would be key to understanding the impact of interventions such as WASH on AMR as well as vaccines.
Building on the unified surveillance comment, our was 鈥淒ata sharing to inform decision making鈥 with experts emphasizing the need for global and timely measures of AMR. This should be done by following FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable) and CARE (collective benefit, authority to control, responsibility and ethics) principles with multiple experts emphasizing the need for data to be shared and used to empower local collectors and users of data.
Our focused on 鈥淗ow do we get there? Tools, infrastructure and training needs鈥. Many experts emphasized the need for harmonization across settings and at all levels, with the need for locally trained individuals as well as open access software and IT infrastructure to enable data sharing. All of this must be done in partnership with local data collectors, with increased sampling and investment in infrastructure to support them interpreting their own AMR data.
From our five themes, our experts pointed to isolated good quality studies but many more had concerns about knowledge gaps (for example in the community), emphasized what could be done following the COVID-19 lead (for example in understanding pathogen variants and global spread) and emphasized the infrastructure changes that need to happen within the AMR field.
Many thanks to all our experts who contributed to these interesting discussions and watch this space for an extended workshop based on this input on AMR data in Autumn 2024.
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