*(this beta version will eventually become v3.0. We're happy to reach a new major milestone soon, which will be all about the new One Health support! Install this beta using [the instructions here](https://msberends.github.io/AMR/#latest-development-version).)*
A New Milestone: AMR v3.0 with One Health Support (= Human + Veterinary + Environmental)
This package now supports not only tools for AMR data analysis in clinical settings, but also for veterinary and environmental microbiology. This was made possible through a collaboration with the [University of Prince Edward Island's Atlantic Veterinary College](https://www.upei.ca/avc), Canada. To celebrate this great improvement of the package, we also updated the package logo to reflect this change.
Breaking
* Dataset `antibiotics` has been renamed to `antimicrobials` as the data set contains more than just antibiotics. Using `antibiotics` will still work, but now returns a warning.
* Removed all functions and references that used the deprecated `rsi` class, which were all replaced with their `sir` equivalents over two years ago.
* Function `resistance_predict()` is now deprecated and will be removed in a future version. Use the `tidymodels` framework instead, for which we [wrote a basic introduction](https://msberends.github.io/AMR/articles/AMR_with_tidymodels.html).
New
* **One Health implementation**
* Function `as.sir()` now has extensive support for veterinary breakpoints from CLSI. Use `breakpoint_type = "animal"` and set the `host` argument to a variable that contains animal species names.
* The `clinical_breakpoints` data set contains all these breakpoints, and can be downloaded on our [download page](https://msberends.github.io/AMR/articles/datasets.html).
* The (new) `antimicrobials` data set contains all veterinary antibiotics, such as pradofloxacin and enrofloxacin. All WHOCC codes for veterinary use have been added as well.
* `ab_atc()` now supports ATC codes of veterinary antibiotics (that all start with "Q")
* `ab_url()` now supports retrieving the WHOCC url of their ATCvet pages
* **Support for WISCA antibiograms**
* The `antibiogram()` function now supports creating true Weighted-Incidence Syndromic Combination Antibiograms (WISCA), a powerful Bayesian method for estimating regimen coverage probabilities using pathogen incidence and antimicrobial susceptibility data. WISCA offers improved precision for syndrome-specific treatment, even in datasets with sparse data. A dedicated `wisca()` function is also available for easy usage.
* **Major update to fungal taxonomy and tools for mycologists**
* MycoBank has now been integrated as the primary taxonomic source for fungi. The `microorganisms` data set has been enriched with new columns (`mycobank`, `mycobank_parent`, and `mycobank_renamed_to`) that provide detailed information for fungal species.
* A remarkable addition of over 20,000 new fungal records
* New function `mo_mycobank()` to retrieve the MycoBank record number, analogous to existing functions such as `mo_lpsn()` and `mo_gbif()`.
* The `as.mo()` function and all `mo_*()` functions now include an `only_fungi` argument, allowing users to restrict results solely to fungal species. This ensures fungi are prioritised over bacteria during microorganism identification. This can also be set globally with the new `AMR_only_fungi` option.
* Also updated other kingdoms, welcoming a total of 2,149 new records from 2023 and 927 from 2024.
* **Updated clinical breakpoints**
* EUCAST 2024 and CLSI 2024 are now supported, by adding all of their over 4,000 new clinical breakpoints to the `clinical_breakpoints` data set for usage in `as.sir()`. EUCAST 2024 is now the new default guideline for all MIC and disk diffusion interpretations.
* Added all Expected Resistant Phenotypes from EUCAST (v1.2). The default `rules` for `eucast_rules()` are now: `c("breakpoints", "expected_phenotypes")`.
* Updated the `intrinsic_resistant` data set, which is now based on EUCAST Expected Resistant Phenotypes v1.2
* `as.sir()` now brings additional factor levels: "NI" for non-interpretable and "SDD" for susceptible dose-dependent. Currently, the `clinical_breakpoints` data set contains 24 breakpoints that can return the value "SDD" instead of "I".
* EUCAST interpretive rules (using `eucast_rules()`) are now available for EUCAST 12 (2022), 13 (2023), and 14 (2024).
* **New advanced ggplot2 extensions for MIC and SIR plotting and transforming**
* New function group `scale_*_mic()`, namely: `scale_x_mic()`, `scale_y_mic()`, `scale_colour_mic()` and `scale_fill_mic()`. They allow easy plotting of MIC values. They allow for manual range definition and plotting missing intermediate log2 levels.
* New function group `scale_*_sir()`, namely: `scale_x_sir()`, `scale_colour_sir()` and `scale_fill_sir()`. They allow to plot the `sir` class, and translates into the system language at default. They also set colourblind-safe colours to the plots.
* New function `rescale_mic()`, which allows users to rescale MIC values to a manually set range. This is the powerhouse behind the `scale_*_mic()` functions, but it can be used independently to, for instance, compare equality in MIC distributions by rescaling them to the same range first.
* **Support for Python**
* While using R for the heavy lifting, [our 'AMR' Python Package](https://pypi.org/project/AMR/) was developed to run the AMR R package natively in Python. The Python package will always have the same version number as the R package, as it is built automatically with every code change.
* **Support for `tidymodels`**
* All antimicrobial selectors (such as `aminoglycosides()` and `betalactams()`) are now supported in `tidymodels` packages such as `recipe` and `parsnip`. See for more info [our tutorial](https://msberends.github.io/AMR/articles/AMR_with_tidymodels.html) on using these AMR functions for predictive modelling.
* **Other**
* New function `top_n_microorganisms()` to filter a data set to the top *n* of any taxonomic property, e.g., filter to the top 3 species, filter to any species in the top 5 genera, or filter to the top 3 species in each of the top 5 genera
* New function `mo_group_members()` to retrieve the member microorganisms of a microorganism group. For example, `mo_group_members("Strep group C")` returns a vector of all microorganisms that belong to that group.
* New functions `mic_p50()` and `mic_p90()` to retrieve the 50th and 90th percentile of MIC values.
Changed
* SIR interpretation
* It is now possible to use column names for argument `ab`, `mo`, and `uti`: `as.sir(..., ab = "column1", mo = "column2", uti = "column3")`. This greatly improves the flexibility for users.
* Users can now set their own criteria (using regular expressions) as to what should be considered S, I, R, SDD, and NI.
* To get quantitative values, `as.double()` on a `sir` object will return 1 for S, 2 for SDD/I, and 3 for R (NI will become `NA`). Other functions using `sir` classes (e.g., `summary()`) are updated to reflect the change to contain NI and SDD.
* Combined MIC values (e.g., from CLSI) are now supported
* The argument `conserve_capped_values` in `as.sir()` has been replaced with `capped_mic_handling`, which allows greater flexibility in handling capped MIC values (`<`, `<=`, `>`, `>=`). The four available options (`"standard"`, `"strict"`, `"relaxed"`, `"inverse"`) provide full control over whether these values should be interpreted conservatively or ignored. Using `conserve_capped_values` is now deprecated and returns a warning.
* Added argument `info` so silence all console messages
* `antibiogram()` function
* Argument `antibiotics` has been renamed to `antimicrobials`. Using `antibiotics` will still work, but now returns a warning.
* Added argument `formatting_type` to set any of the 22 options for the formatting of all 'cells'. This defaults to `18` for non-WISCA and `14` for WISCA, changing the output of antibiograms to cells with more info.
* For this reason, `add_total_n` is now `FALSE` at default since the denominators are added to the cells for non-WISCA. For WISCA, the denominator is not useful anyway.
* The `ab_transform` argument now defaults to `"name"`, displaying antibiotic column names instead of codes
* Antimicrobial selectors (previously: *antibiotic selectors*)
* 'Antibiotic selectors' are now called 'antimicrobial selectors' since their scope is broader than just antibiotics. All documentation have been updated, and `ab_class()` and `ab_selector()` have been replaced with `amr_class()` and `amr_selector()`. The old functions are now deprecated and will be removed in a future version.
* Added selectors `isoxazolylpenicillins()`, `monobactams()`, `nitrofurans()`, `phenicols()`, `rifamycins()`, and `sulfonamides()`
* When using antimicrobial selectors that exclude non-treatable drugs (such as gentamicin-high when using `aminoglycosides()`), the function now always returns a warning that these can be included using `only_treatable = FALSE`
* Added a new argument `return_all` to all selectors, which defaults to `TRUE` to include any match. With `FALSE`, the old behaviour, only the first hit for each unique antimicrobial is returned.
* All selectors can now be run as a separate command to retrieve a vector of all possible antimicrobials that the selector can select
* The selectors `lincosamides()` and `macrolides()` do not overlap anymore - each antibiotic is now classified as either of these and not both
* Fixed selector `fluoroquinolones()`, which now really only selects second-generation quinolones and up (first-generation quinolones do not contain a fluorine group)
* `antimicrobials` data set
* Added agents used for screening, with an ID all ending with `-S`: benzylpenicillin screening test (`PEN-S`), beta-lactamase screening test (`BLA-S`), cefotaxime screening test (`CTX-S`), clindamycin inducible screening test (`CLI-S`), nalidixic acid screening test (`NAL-S`), norfloxacin screening test (`NOR-S`), oxacillin screening test (`OXA-S`), pefloxacin screening test (`PEF-S`), and tetracycline screening test (`TCY-S`). The ID of cefoxitin screening was renamed from `FOX1` to `FOX-S`, while the old code remains to work.
* For this reason, the antimicrobial selectors `cephalosporins()`, `cephalosporins_3rd()`, `lincosamides()`, `isoxazolylpenicillins()`, `quinolones()`, `fluoroquinolones()`, and `tetracyclines()` now contain the argument `only_treatable = TRUE` (similar to other antimicrobial selectors that contain non-treatable drugs)
* Added amorolfine (`AMO`, D01AE16), which is now also part of the `antifungals()` selector
* Added efflux (`EFF`), to allow mapping to AMRFinderPlus
* Added tigemonam (`TNM`), a monobactam
* Added bleomycin (`BLM`), a glycopeptide
* Updated all ATC codes, trade names, and DDDs
* MICs
* Added as valid levels: 4096, 6 powers of 0.0625, and 5 powers of 192 (192, 384, 576, 768, 960)
* Fixed a bug in `as.mic()` that failed translation of scientifically formatted numbers
* Added new argument `keep_operators` to `as.mic()`. This can be `"all"` (default), `"none"`, or `"edges"`. This argument is also available in the new `rescale_mic()` and `scale_*_mic()` functions.
* Comparisons of MIC values are now more strict. For example, `>32` is higher than (and never equal to) `32`. Thus, `as.mic(">32") == as.mic(32)` now returns `FALSE`, and `as.mic(">32") > as.mic(32)` now returns `TRUE`.
* Sorting of MIC values (using `sort()`) was fixed in the same manner; `<0.001` now gets sorted before `0.001`, and `>0.001` gets sorted after `0.001`.
* Intermediate log2 levels used for MIC plotting are now more common values instead of following a strict dilution range
* `is.mic()` now returns a vector of `TRUE`/`FALSE` if the input is a `data.frame`, just like `as.sir()`
* `eucast_rules()` now has an argument `overwrite` (default: `FALSE`) to indicate whether non-`NA` values should be overwritten
* Disks of 0 to 5 mm are now allowed, the newly allowed range for disk diffusion (`as.disk()`) is now between 0 and 50 mm
* Updated `italicise_taxonomy()` to support HTML output
* `custom_eucast_rules()` now supports multiple antibiotics and antibiotic groups to be affected by a single rule
* `mo_info()` now contains an extra element `rank` and `group_members` (with the contents of the new `mo_group_members()` function)
* Updated all ATC codes from WHOCC
* Updated all antibiotic DDDs from WHOCC
* Fix for using a manual value for `mo_transform` in `antibiogram()`
* Fixed a bug for when `antibiogram()` returns an empty data set
* Fix for mapping 'high level' antibiotics in `as.ab()` (amphotericin B-high, gentamicin-high, kanamycin-high, streptomycin-high, tobramycin-high)
* Improved overall algorithm of `as.ab()` for better performance and accuracy, including the new function `as_reset_session()` to remove earlier coercions.
* Improved overall algorithm of `as.mo()` for better performance and accuracy, specifically:
* More weight is given to genus and species combinations in cases where the subspecies is miswritten, so that the result will be the correct genus and species
* Genera from the World Health Organization's (WHO) Priority Pathogen List now have the highest prevalence
* Fixed a bug for `sir_confidence_interval()` when there are no isolates available
* Updated the prevalence calculation to include genera from the World Health Organization's (WHO) Priority Pathogen List
* Improved algorithm of `first_isolate()` when using the phenotype-based method, to prioritise records with the highest availability of SIR values
* `scale_y_percent()` can now cope with ranges outside the 0-100% range
* MDRO determination (using `mdro()`)
* Implemented the new Dutch national MDRO guideline (SRI-richtlijn BRMO, Nov 2024)
* Added arguments `esbl`, `carbapenemase`, `mecA`, `mecC`, `vanA`, `vanB` to denote column names or logical values indicating presence of these genes (or production of their proteins)
* Added console colours support of `sir` class for Positron
Other
* Added Dr. Larisse Bolton and Aislinn Cook as contributors for their fantastic implementation of WISCA in a mathematically solid way
* Added Matthew Saab, Dr. Jordan Stull, and Prof. Javier Sanchez as contributors for their tremendous input on veterinary breakpoints and interpretations
* Added Prof. Kat Holt, Dr. Jane Hawkey, and Dr. Natacha Couto as contributors for their many suggestions, ideas and bugfixes
* Greatly improved `vctrs` integration, a Tidyverse package working in the background for many Tidyverse functions. For users, this means that functions such as `dplyr`'s `bind_rows()`, `rowwise()` and `c_across()` are now supported for e.g. columns of class `mic`. Despite this, this `AMR` package is still zero-dependent on any other package, including `dplyr` and `vctrs`.
* Greatly updated and expanded documentation
* Stopped support for SAS (`.xpt`) files, since their file structure and extremely inefficient and requires more disk space than GitHub allows in a single commit.
Older Versions
This changelog only contains changes from AMR v3.0 (March 2025) and later.
* For prior v2 versions, please see [our v2 archive](https://github.com/msberends/AMR/blob/v2.1.1/NEWS.md).
* For prior v1 versions, please see [our v1 archive](https://github.com/msberends/AMR/blob/v1.8.2/NEWS.md).