Antimicrobial Resistance Patterns in an Urban County: a Spatiotemporal Exploration

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has raised national alarm over five Antimicrobial Resistant Organisms (AMROs) considered urgent or serious threats to public safety. Understanding the prevalence and distribution of AMROs at a local level can inform the unique infection risks facing our communities. We conducted a retrospective, spatiotemporal analysis of AMRO prevalence across Tarrant County, Texas from 2010-2019. Using spatial autocorrelation tests, we identified that across five different AMRO subtypes, the Western half of Tarrant County experienced more hot spots than the Eastern half. Our Space-Time Permutation Models identified 35 unique AMRO clusters. Using logistic regression models, we found significant associations between Area Deprivation Index, a measure of socioeconomic disparity, and most AMRO clusters. These findings underscore the importance of residency location and temporal trends when treating and preventing AMRO infections.