# Combatting Community-Associated Antimicrobial Resistant Organisms Combat CA-ARO Study

> **NIH AHRQ R01** · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $499,998

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
 Antimicrobial resistant organisms (ARO) have long been a concern in the acute healthcare setting, but
community rates have increased exponentially over the past decade, with the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) estimating that 47% of all extended-spectrum beta-lactamase producing Enterobacterales
(ESBL-E) infections are now community-associated (CA). Despite this, very little is known about community-
associated AROS (CA-ARO). The goals of this proposal are to characterize AROs in the community setting and
to identify risk factors for CA-ARO infection and colonization. Our central hypotheses are that there are
identifiable risk factors associated with CA-ARO infection and colonization, and that these data will lay the
groundwork for interventions to reduce the transmission of AROs and to ultimately prevent ARO infections.
 In Aim 1, we will characterize clinical risk factors associated with CA-ARO infections utilizing a database
of patients with urinary tract infections and bloodstream infections associated with both community and
healthcare settings. In Aim 2 we will determine the prevalence and clinical risk factors associated with CA-ARO
colonization in patients admitted to the acute care hospital setting. This will be achieved through recruiting
patients admitted to the hospital from the community setting and interrogating clinical specimens with selective
microbiologic culture to determine the prevalence of ARO colonization and identify risk factors for CA-ARO
colonization in this population. In Aim 3 we will determine the prevalence and characteristics associated with
ARO colonization in asymptomatic community volunteers and their home environment to identify risk factors and
reservoirs of CA-ARO colonization. We will achieve this through a prospective cohort study of community
volunteers and interrogation of human and environmental samples paired with detailed clinical data to document
reservoirs of CA-ARO and potential risk factors for CA-ARO colonization. Together, this data will provide key
insight to understand CA-AROs, a necessary first step towards creating interventions to combat AROs in
community settings.
 Results of this study will directly impact clinical practice by providing key data to guide the use of infection
prevention interventions for people at-risk for CA-ARO colonization or infection, environmental hygiene
recommendations, and empiric antimicrobial use in the community setting. This study is directly responsive to
the AHRQ FOA focused on the prevention of HAIs as it is aimed at reducing the transmission of AROs and
preventing HAIs. This project represents a necessary and novel approach to targeting AROs within the
community setting, and will lead to practice-changing paradigms to combatting AROs.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10856577
- **Project number:** 1R01HS029872-01
- **Recipient organization:** WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Jennie H Kwon
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** AHRQ
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $499,998
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-05-01 → 2029-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10856577

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10856577, Combatting Community-Associated Antimicrobial Resistant Organisms Combat CA-ARO Study (1R01HS029872-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10856577. Licensed CC0.

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