AMR Study | CAN-POP-AMR
CANadian Prospective Observational Study of Pediatric AntiMicrobial Resistant Infections
Participating Sites and Research Team
Dr. Manish Sadarangani (Principal Co-Investigator)
Dr. Ashley Roberts (Principal Co-Investigator)
Dr. Patricia S. Fontela
Dr. Élise Fortin
Dr. Jeffrey Pernica
Dr. Anupam Sehgal
Dr. Kaitlin Winter
British Columbia
BC Children’s Hospital (Vancouver)
Alberta
Alberta Children’s Hospital (Calgary)
Stollery Children’s Hospital (Edmonton)
Saskatchewan
Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital (Saskatoon)
Manitoba
The Children’s Hospital of Winnipeg (Winnipeg)
Ontario
Children's Hospital London Health Sciences Centre (London)
McMaster Children’s Hospital (Hamilton)
The Hospital for Sick Children (Toronto)
Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (Ottawa)
Kingston Health Sciences Centre (Kingston)
Quebec
CHU Sainte-Justine (Montreal)
Montreal Children’s Hospital
CHU de Sherbrooke (Sherbrooke)
CHU de Quebec l‘Universite de Laval (Quebec City)
Nova Scotia
IWK Health Centre (Halifax)
Newfoundland
Janeway Children’s Health and Rehabilitation Centre (St. John’s)
What Do We Want To Know?
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing global health crisis that makes infections harder to treat, leading to longer hospital stays, higher medical costs, and greater deaths. In 2018, AMR contributed to 14,000 deaths in Canada alone. Children are particularly vulnerable to infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria, yet there is currently no national program in Canada that tracks the impact of AMR specifically in pediatric populations.
CAN-POP-AMR aims to fill this critical gap by establishing the first nationwide pediatric-specific AMR surveillance network. This research will help us understand how widespread these infections are in children, identify high-risk groups, and guide the development of vaccines and new treatments.
Ultimately, this study will provide the necessary data to inform national health policies and interventions, helping protect Canadian children from the growing threat of AMR.
How Are We Doing It?
We will collect data on children seen in the emergency department or admitted to hospital with resistant bacterial infections, as well as those with selected antibiotic-susceptible infections for comparison. We will gather detailed information on the types of bacteria involved, their resistance patterns, and patient outcomes. Additionally, bacterial samples will be collected and stored for future research, enabling us to study how bacteria evolve and develop resistance, and support development of vaccines and other interventions.
How Is The Study Going?
The protocol is complete and we are working on obtaining the necessary approvals at the hospital sites so that sample collection can begin!
Who Is Included?
Children who are hospitalized and/or assessed in the Emergency Department at one of the pediatric hospitals in the POPCORN network with an invasive AMR infection caused by any AMR organism (as defined by the World Health Organization) and/or an antibiotic-resistant or antibiotic-susceptible infection caused by Klebsiella, Streptococcus pneumoniae or Staphylococcus aureus.
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