Antimicrobial Resistance Profiles in Healthcare Facilities From Meta State, Colombia: A Retrospective Observational Study From 2018-2022

Healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs) affect patients' security and quality of care. Several of them develop infections during their hospital stay, especially in the ICU, and the number is higher in low-middle-income countries. It confers an additional burden on hospitals, with higher use of resources and costs. The magnitude of the problem is not understood completely due to discrepancies in results and heterogeneous studies.

Additionally, HCAIs are associated with increased morbidity and disability, but the studies are unsure of the effect on mortality.

Microorganisms are ubiquitous in hospital environments and diverse in patients, families, and healthcare personnel. Some are carriers of antimicrobial resistance mechanisms (AMR) and are transmissible to other microorganisms. Studies with genetic sequencing show a fundamental role of such colonization as a reservoir for AMR that limits the efficacy of therapy since admission. Such technology is not available to most hospitals to screen environments or people. Such interaction favors an interchange of microbiome (directly or indirectly) as a requirement for the advent of HCAIs.

It is known that HCAIs by MDR (multidrug resistance) bacteria are associated with an increase in mortality (OR 1.61; 1.36-1.90); it is not clear if it is due to the problem in the quality of care or the health conditions that promotes the infection.

The frequency of HCAIs is higher in Latin America than in the United States or Europe. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regularly monitor DAI (device-associated infections) from several years ago, and they are of reference worldwide.