Multi-drug resistant infections are a growing global health crisis, responsible for millions of deaths worldwide. In Canada alone, an estimated 14,000 deaths in 2018 were linked to drug-resistant bacterial infections. Hospital-associated infections, particularly those caused by drug-resistant bacteria, pose a significant burden on healthcare systems, leading to severe complications, increased mortality and rising health-care costs. Projections estimate that managing these infections could cost the Canadian health-care system hundreds of billions of dollars in the coming decades.

Among the most concerning drug-resistant bacteria are carbapenemase-producing organisms (CPOs), which can cause life-threatening infections such as pneumonia, meningitis and sepsis. The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified CPOs as a critical global health threat due to their rapid spread and limited treatment options. Unlike many other hospital-acquired infections, CPOs can persist in healthcare environments, such as sinks and drains, making their spread difficult to control through traditional infection prevention measures.

Both the Alberta Public Health Laboratory (Alberta ProvLab) and the BC Centre for Disease Control Public Health Laboratory (BCCDC PHL) have established routine genomic surveillance programs to track and better understand CPO transmission. This project will evaluate these surveillance programs from a health economics perspective, comparing the current reactive approach—responding to individual cases as they arise—to a proactive model that detects early transmission events and prevents further spread.