Resistance gene patterns and reserve-agent susceptibility in Indian clinical isolates: A One Health analysis of ICMR-AMRSN surveillance data, 2017-2024

Abstract

Objective: To describe resistance-gene patterns and reserve-agent susceptibility based on curated summaries from the Indian Council of Medical Research Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Network (ICMR-AMRSN) and to situate these findings within a One Health framework.
Methods: A retrospective secondary analysis was conducted using 44 organism-year records from ICMR-AMRSN annual reports published between 2017 and 2024. Resistance-gene labels and percentage susceptibility values were extracted and tabulated by pathogen and year.
Results: NDM and OXA-23-like were the dominant carbapenemase mechanisms in Enterobacterales and Acinetobacter baumannii, respectively (TEM-type beta-lactamases were most prevalent overall in Escherichia coli). Colistin susceptibility remained above 94% across Gram-negative pathogens in post-2019 records, temporally coinciding with India’s 2019 veterinary ban. Vancomycin susceptibility exceeded 99% in Staphylococcus aureus isolates.
Conclusions: NDM- and OXA-type mechanisms dominate clinical antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in India, mirroring determinants circulating in animal and environmental reservoirs. The sustained colistin susceptibility after India’s 2019 veterinary ban is consistent with the hypothesis that cross-sectoral policy may influence clinical resistance trajectories, though causality cannot be inferred from aggregate data. Integration of ICMR-AMRSN and Indian Council of Agricultural Research surveillance streams, with environmental monitoring, would establish a genuine One Health AMR network aligned with India’s National Action Plan on AMR.

Keywords

Antimicrobial resistance / Carbapenemase / Colistin / ICMR-AMRSN / Molecular epidemiology / NDM / One Health / Surveillance

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