Objective:
The objective of this scoping review is to identify and map existing evidence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in water in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), while also identifying the gaps in AMR information in the region in eight themes of interest.
Introduction:
Antimicrobial resistance is a public health concern that has gained increasing global awareness. Concerns have been raised toward the importance of the environment’s role in the dissemination of clinically relevant AMR. Although studies on AMR have been conducted, the reality of this issue in the LAC region has not been studied.
Inclusion criteria:
Articles that examine AMR in water in the LAC region will be considered for inclusion. Antimicrobial resistance will be defined as a natural process that arises when the microorganisms that cause infection (e.g. bacteria) survive exposure to a medicine that would normally kill them or stop their growth. The article search will focus on eight themes of interest, as defined in the protocol, relating to the presence of resistant microorganisms in water sources and reported negative health effects. Qualitative and quantitative studies will be considered for inclusion. Reviews and gray literature will be excluded.
Methods:
The proposed scoping review will be conducted in accordance with the JBI methodology for scoping reviews. Independent screening of articles will be performed, examining the abstracts and then the full texts, utilizing pre-defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Data for specific variables will be extracted, and descriptive examination will be performed.
Correspondence: Aiko D. Adell, aiko.adell@unab.cl
There is no conflict of interest in this project.
© 2019 by Lippincott williams & Wilkins, Inc.