Prevalence of Antimicrobial Resistance in Tanzania: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Antimicrobial resistance threatens global health. Understanding the resistance patterns aids treatment and promotes responsible antimicrobial use. This review and meta –analysis assess the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance among clinically relevant pathogens in Tanzania. A total of 18,265 studies identified from Google Scholar (18,000), PubMed (13), and Science Direct (252), underwent screening and full article review. Ultimately, 28 studies were included. A subgroup analysis evaluated resistance patterns within antibiotic classes for specific pathogens. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the characteristics of the studies and the prevalence of antibiotic resistance. Heterogeneity was assessed using forest plots and the I–squared statistic. Among the included studies, the majority of the isolates (25.0%) were obtained from urine samples. Of these studies, 75% were cross–sectional studies, and 92.9% were conducted in hospital settings. The analysis revealed high resistance to penicillin, particularly amoxicillin–clavulanic and ampicillin, with Klebsiella pneumoniae (0.96 [0.83–0.99]), Acinetobacter baumannii (0.94 [0.67–0.99]) and Escherichia coli (0.90 [0.81–0.95]). Similarly, erythromycin resistance was most prevalent in Campylobacter spp. (0.85 [0.80–0.89]). Ciprofloxacin resistance was highest in Acinetobacter baumannii (0.54 [0.33–0.73]), while amikacin resistance with Proteus spp. was (0.86 [0.35–0.99]). Ceftriaxone resistance was particularly high in Acinetobacter baumannii (0.91 [0.70–0.98]) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (0.85 [0.74–0.92]). Resistance to meropenem was lowest among Escherichia coli (0.04 [0.01–0.10]) and Klebsiella spp. (0.07 [0.03–0.15]), with an overall pooled resistance to the ESKAPE–E pathogen of (0.11[0.06–0.19]). Imipenem and clindamycin each had an overall pooled resistance of (0.06[0.02–0.14]) against both Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae. The findings highlight widespread resistance among key bacterial pathogens –ESKAPE–E, particularly to Access and Watch groups of antibiotics. The variability in resistance patterns underscore the need to re–evaluate empirical treatment protocols (STG/NEMLIT) to ensure effective treatment regimens, strengthening antimicrobial stewardship, enhancing surveillance systems, and promote rational antibiotic use.