Performance of blood culture in febrile children at four Antimicrobial Resistance surveillance sites in Uganda

Globally, the emergence and spread of AMR is a recognized
threat to the prevention and treatment of commonly encountered
bacterial infections. The increased risk of bacterial infections,
limited microbiology laboratory capacity, inappropriate
prescription of antibiotics, limited access to more effective
treatment regimens, and lack of routine surveillance systems
have aggravated the burden of AMR in resource-limited settings.
Acute febrile illnesses (AFIs) are among the commonest
causes of hospitalization in children from low and middle-income
countries. Moreover, a high mortality rate is associated
with bloodstream infections. In 2018, among the 675,741 hospital
admissions in Uganda for children under 5 years, non-respiratory,
non-urinary tract and non-diarrheal bloodstream
infections accounted for at least 21% of these admissions and
20% of hospital-based mortality. An effective national AMR
surveillance system supported by a functional microbiology
laboratory network is critical in informing antibiotic treatment
guidelines and monitoring of AMR trends. Thereby, slowing the
spread and emergence of AMR.

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