Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38906299›Full record

ArticleThe Science of the total environment2024

Key environmental exposure pathways to antimicrobial resistant bacteria in southern Malawi: A SaniPath approach.

Taonga Mwapasa, Kondwani Chidziwisano, Madalitso Mphasa, Derek Cocker, Lorenzo Rimella, Stevie Amos, Nicholas Feasey, Tracy Morse

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in The Science of the total environment, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
10citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

10 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. No evidence of multidrug-resistantMicrobiology spectrum · 2025
    Observational
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Taonga MwapasaCentre for Water, Sanitation, Health, and Appropriate Technology Development (WASHTED), Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences, Blantyre, Malawi. Electronic address: tmwapasa@mubas.ac.mw.
Kondwani ChidziwisanoCentre for Water, Sanitation, Health, and Appropriate Technology Development (WASHTED), Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences, Blantyre, Malawi; Department of Environmental Health, Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences, Blantyre, Malawi.
Madalitso MphasaMalawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Programme, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Blantyre, Malawi.
Derek CockerMalawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Programme, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Blantyre, Malawi; Department of Clinical Sciences, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, United Kingdom; David Price Evans Global Health and Infectious Disease Group, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom.
Lorenzo RimellaDepartment of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Lancaster, Lancaster, United Kingdom.
Stevie AmosCentre for Water, Sanitation, Health, and Appropriate Technology Development (WASHTED), Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences, Blantyre, Malawi.
Nicholas FeaseyMalawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Programme, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Blantyre, Malawi; Department of Clinical Sciences, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, United Kingdom.
Tracy MorseDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, United Kingdom.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a severe global health threat, yet the transmission pathways of AMR within communal public environments, where humans and animals interact, remain poorly explored. This study investigated AMR risk pathways, prevalence, and seasonality of extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) producing E. coli and K. pneumoniae, and observed practices contributing to environmental contamination within urban, peri-urban, and rural Malawi. Using the SaniPath tool, in August 2020, transect walks across three Malawian study sites identified potential AMR exposure pathways, including drains, standing water, soil, and areas of communal hand contact. Subsequently, from September-2020 to August-2021, 1440 environmental samples were collected at critical points along exposure routes (n = 40/month from each site). These underwent microbiological analysis using chromogenic agar techniques to detect the presence of ESBL E. coli and ESBL K. pneumoniae. Results showed the highest ESBL prevalence in urban environments (68.1 %, 95%CI = 0.64-0.72, p < 0.001) with a higher ESBL presence seen in drains (58.8 %, 95%CI = 055-0.62, p < 0.001) and soil (54.1 %, 95%CI = 0.46-0.62, p < 0.001) compared to other pathways. Environmental contamination was attributed to unavailability and poor condition of sanitation and hygiene infrastructure based on key informant interviews with community leaders (n = 9) and confirmed by independent observation. ESBL prevalence varied between seasons (χ

Indexed as

Environmental ExposureEscherichia coliAnti-Bacterial Agentsbeta-LactamasesDrug Resistance, BacterialEnvironmental MonitoringHumansKlebsiella pneumoniaeMalawiSoil MicrobiologyAnti-Bacterial Agentsbeta-LactamasesEnvironmental sanitationExposure assessmentExtended-spectrum β-lactamaseLMICLongitudinal assessmentOne healthTransect walk

Identifiers

PMID38906299
PMCPMC11234251

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.