Antimicrobial resistance among bacterial pathogens of public health interest in Vietnam from a One Health perspective: protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis

Introduction: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a pressing public health threat, and the prevalence of AMR is particularly high in Vietnam. A comprehensive review of AMR in humans, animals and/or the environment in Vietnam has however not been conducted to date. This systematic review aims to address this evidence gap and will collect and aggregate findings from literature on AMR in Vietnam among bacterial pathogens of public health interest from a One Health perspective. The results from this countrywide literature review may serve as a guiding tool for policymakers, medical practitioners, veterinarians and other relevant stakeholders in Vietnam and outside the country. This review will also identify specific areas where critical information is lacking, which will be of value for future surveillance programmes and epidemiological research. Methods and analysis: Studies reporting primary data on antimicrobial susceptibility testing from human (both community and hospital settings), animal and environmental samples in Vietnam will be included. The search will be conducted in PubMed, Web of Science, Embase and Scopus. In addition, Google Scholar will be used to retrieve literature published in Vietnamese and Open Access Theses and Dissertations will be used to seek relevant PhD dissertations. More than 18 different pathogens will be included in this review, mainly based on the 2017 and 2024 WHO bacterial priority pathogens list and the WHO Global Antimicrobial Resistance and Use Surveillance System. Risk of bias (quality) assessment of included studies will be conducted using (1) The thirteen mandatory elements of the Microbiology Investigation Criteria for Reporting Objectively checklist and (2) The bias appraisal framework of Hoy et al. The outcome of this literature review will be the prevalence of resistance among selected bacteria, stratified by setting (human (hospital or community), animal and the environment). Pooled prevalence estimates will be calculated for each of the selected antimicrobial-bacterial pathogen combinations. This literature review will be reported in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Ethics and dissemination: Ethical approval is not required as no primary data are to be collected. The results from this review will be submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. PROSPERO registration number: PROSPERO CRD420251047399.