Antimicrobial resistance databases: opportunities and challenges for public health

The article reviews the role of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) databases in modern public health, explaining that these curated repositories of resistance genes and mutations enable the identification of AMR determinants from pathogen genomic data and support prediction of resistance profiles, thereby enhancing surveillance, outbreak response, infection prevention, diagnostic development, and tailored clinical decision-making. It compares several freely available, regularly updated AMR databases, noting differences in scope, structure, curation and coverage, and highlights how they underpin genomic analyses that detect known and emerging resistance variants more specifically than phenotypic methods alone. The review also outlines key opportunities—such as improved outbreak detection, development of molecular diagnostics, integration with bioinformatic tools, and support for evidence-based treatment—as well as challenges including variability among databases, gaps in data standardisation and completeness, and usability barriers that must be addressed to fully harness their potential for global AMR surveillance and public health interventions.