Surgical site infection and antimicrobial use following caesarean section at QECH in Blantyre, Malawi: a prospective cohort study.

Background: Surgical site infections (SSIs) are one of the most common healthcare-associated infections and preventable complication of surgical procedure; continue to threaten public health with significant effects on the patients and health care human and financial resources. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the incidence of SSIs, risk factors and common microorganisms associated with SSI and assess the practice of antimicrobial use in women following Caesarean Section (CS) at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH).

Methods: This was a hospital-based quantitative prospective study design involving pregnant women who underwent a CS between February, 2023 and July, 2023 at QECH with 30 day-follow-ups.

The aetiology and antimicrobial resistance of bacterial maternal infections in Sub-Saharan Africa-a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Understanding the aetiological organisms causing maternal infections is crucial to inform antibiotic treatment guidelines, but such data are scarce from Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). We performed this systematic review and meta-analysis to address this gap.

Methods: Microbiologically confirmed maternal infection data were collected from PubMed, Embase, and African Journals online databases.

Antimicrobial resistance control activities at a tertiary hospital in a low-resource setting: an example of Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Malawi.

Background: Addressing AMR has been most problematic in low- and middle-income countries, which lack infrastructure, diagnostic capacity, and robust data management systems, among other factors. The implementation of locally-led efforts in a low-income country to develop sustainability and build capacity for AMR control within the existing infrastructure has not been well documented.

Methods: We detail current AMR control initiatives at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, a tertiary referral government hospital in Malawi with limited resources, and present the activities accomplished to date, lessons learned, and challenges ahead.

Sustained Reduction in Third-generation Cephalosporin Usage in Adult Inpatients Following Introduction of an Antimicrobial Stewardship Program in a Large, Urban Hospital in Malawi.

Background: Third-generation cephalosporins (3GC) remain the first-choice empiric antibiotic for severe infection in many sub-Saharan African hospitals. In Malawi, the limited availability of alternatives means that strategies to prevent the spread of 3GC resistance are imperative; however, suitable approaches to antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) in low-income settings are not well studied.

Methods: We introduced an AMS intervention to Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre.