Assessing the national antibiotic surveillance data to identify burden for melioidosis in Malaysia

A leading cause of morbidity and mortality in Southeast Asia, the epidemiological data on melioidosis disease occurrence and mortality in Malaysia is not comprehensive. The aim of this study is to determine the burden of melioidosis and assess the National Surveillance for Antibiotic Resistance (NSAR) data as a potential tool melioidosis surveilance in Malaysia.

We performed a retrospective analysis on the B. pseudomallei reposited data submitted to the NSAR network between January 2014 and December 2020. The data were screened for information on patient demographics and specimen types. Additional patient comorbidities and outcomes were drawn from parallel surveillance for bacteremic melioidosis.

The average annual incidence rate of melioidosis between 2014-2020 was 3.41 per 100,000 population and was significantly different between states (P <0.001). The highest incidence was observed in Pahang at 11.33 per 100,000 population. Individuals of Malay ethnicity, from the states of Pahang, Johor, Perak, and Negeri Sembilan aged 40-49, who were diabetic and working in agriculture-related sectors had a higher risk of succumbing to the infection.

Assessing the NSAR data proved to be a useful tool for the determination of the incidence and socio-demographic risk factors attributed to melioidosis in Malaysia.