Since 2020 I have been studying antibiotic resistance in the environment caused by anthropogenic activity with the aim of finding patterns of distribution in general and specifically in the Baltic States. My special interests are spatial methods and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). I also teach in GIS-courses.

Research description

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is the overarching term that includes all resistance development that turn drugs meant to treat diseases ineffective. AMR is a global health concern.

Historically, research within the field has relied on controlled clinical trials and the analysis of genetic codes, so called phenotyping, to determine occurrence. The antimicrobial pollution of the environment and the potential risk to humans and animals have been studied.

I want to explore spatial methods, similar to those already applied in medical and health geography. GIS has for example been essential in investigating Covid-19 and influencing factors demography, quality of health care, climate among others. What drives inequalities of health care and differences in disease prevalence and distribution differs depending on location.

In our systematic review on “Spatial Analysis of Antimicrobial Resistance in the Environment” we found only 13 studies matching our combined criteria “spatial” & “environment” & “AMR”. Methods varied greatly and reveal a research gap in the overall use of spatial methods and the absence of comparable procedures.

In detail I study the composition of landscape, in relation to land-use, anthropogenic activity and environmental influencing factors (for example hydrology, climate, temperature) with a geographical focus on the Baltics. Estonia has a documented lower overall occurrence of antibiotic resistance according to an ECDC-report, than neighboring Lithuania and Latvia. I work on finding answers to following questions:

Are AMR-levels in clinical settings proportionally reflected in the environment and may the "composition" of a geographic location favor distribution and increased health risk? Can spatial methods help to generalize findings on a larger, macro scale to spatially-guide sampling in an effort to allocate resources efficiently?

Publications

Spets, P., Ebert, K., & Dinnétz, P. (2023). Spatial analysis of antimicrobial resistance in the environment. A systematic review. Geospatial Health, 18(1). https://doi.org/10.4081/gh.2023.1168 External link.