scholarly journals City-wide metagenomics uncover antibiotic resistance reservoirs in urban beach and sewage waters

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pablo Fresia ◽  
Verónica Antelo ◽  
Cecilia Salazar ◽  
Matías Giménez ◽  
Bruno D’Alessandro ◽  
...  

AbstractBackgroundMicrobial communities present in environmental waters constitute a reservoir for antibiotic-resistant pathogens that impact human health. For this reason a diverse variety of water environments are being analyzed using metagenomics to uncover public health threats. However, the composition of these communities along the coastal environment of a whole city where sewage and beach waters are mixed, is poorly understood.ResultsWe shotgun-sequenced 20 coastal areas from the city of Montevideo (capital of Uruguay) including beach and sewage water samples to characterize bacterial communities and their virulence and antibiotic resistance repertories. We found that sewage and beach environments presented significantly different bacterial communities. Sewage waters harbored a higher prevalence and a more diverse repertory of virulence and antibiotic resistant genes mainly from well-known enterobacteria, including carbapenemases and extended-spectrum betalactamases reported in hospital infections in Montevideo. Additionally, we were able to genotype the presence of both globally-disseminated pathogenic clones as well as emerging antibiotic-resistant bacteria in sewage waters.ConclusionsOur study represents the first in using metagenomics to jointly analyze beaches and the sewage system from an entire city, allowing us to characterize antibiotic-resistant pathogens circulating in urban waters. The data generated in this initial study represent a baseline metagenomic exploration to guide future longitudinal (time-wise) studies, whose systematic implementation will provide useful epidemiological information to improve public health surveillance.

Antibiotics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 688
Author(s):  
Shashi B. Kumar ◽  
Shanvanth R. Arnipalli ◽  
Ouliana Ziouzenkova

Antibiotics have been used as essential therapeutics for nearly 100 years and, increasingly, as a preventive agent in the agricultural and animal industry. Continuous use and misuse of antibiotics have provoked the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria that progressively increased mortality from multidrug-resistant bacterial infections, thereby posing a tremendous threat to public health. The goal of our review is to advance the understanding of mechanisms of dissemination and the development of antibiotic resistance genes in the context of nutrition and related clinical, agricultural, veterinary, and environmental settings. We conclude with an overview of alternative strategies, including probiotics, essential oils, vaccines, and antibodies, as primary or adjunct preventive antimicrobial measures or therapies against multidrug-resistant bacterial infections. The solution for antibiotic resistance will require comprehensive and incessant efforts of policymakers in agriculture along with the development of alternative therapeutics by experts in diverse fields of microbiology, biochemistry, clinical research, genetic, and computational engineering.


2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 179-190
Author(s):  
R. Destiani ◽  
M. R. Templeton

Abstract This study assessed the occurrence and prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARBs) and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in tap water sampled across London, United Kingdom. Sampling was conducted seasonally from nine locations spread geographically across the city. ARBs and ARGs (tet(A), dfrA7, and sul1) were detected in all sampling locations in all sampling rounds. Resistance to trimethoprim was the highest among the tested antibiotics and the sul1 gene was the most abundant resistance gene detected. Several opportunistic pathogens were identified amongst the ARBs in the water samples, including Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia.


Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (23) ◽  
pp. 3342
Author(s):  
Jörg Londong ◽  
Marcus Barth ◽  
Heinrich Söbke

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as one of the top ten threats to public health worldwide. In addition to public health, AMR also poses a major threat to food security and economic development. Current sanitation systems contribute to the emergence and spread of AMR and lack effective AMR mitigation measures. This study assesses source separation of blackwater as a mitigation measure against AMR. A source-separation-modified combined sanitation system with separate collection of blackwater and graywater is conceptually described. Measures taken at the source, such as the separate collection and discharge of material flows, were not considered so far on a load balance basis, i.e., they have not yet been evaluated for their effectiveness. The sanitation system described is compared with a combined system and a separate system regarding AMR emissions by means of simulation. AMR is represented in the simulation model by one proxy parameter each for antibiotics (sulfamethoxazole), antibiotic-resistant bacteria (extended-spectrum beta-lactamase E. Coli), and antibiotic resistance genes (blaTEM). The simulation results suggest that the source-separation-based sanitation system reduces emissions of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes into the aquatic environment by more than six logarithm steps compared to combined systems. Sulfamethoxazole emissions can be reduced by 75.5% by keeping blackwater separate from graywater and treating it sufficiently. In summary, sanitation systems incorporating source separation are, to date, among the most effective means of preventing the emission of AMR into the aquatic environment.


2019 ◽  
Vol 65 (4) ◽  
pp. 322-331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosha Pashang ◽  
Farhan Yusuf ◽  
Simon Zhao ◽  
Shadi Deljoomanesh ◽  
Kimberley A. Gilbride

To elucidate how widespread antibiotic resistance is in the surface water environment, we studied the prevalence of antibiotic resistance bacteria at four locations in southern Ontario. We found that the percentage of bacteria resistant to the antibiotic tetracycline was higher at the river site, which flows through agricultural land, and lower at the lake sites. A total of 225 colonies were selected for further testing of antibiotic disc susceptibility to eight different antibiotics to calculate the multiple antibiotic resistance (MAR) score and the antibiotic resistance index for each site. Although the isolates from the lake site outside the city displayed resistance to fewer antibiotics, their MAR scores were not significantly different from that of the lake sites adjacent to urban beaches, showing that MAR was widespread in the natural water environments tested. Isolation of colonies under selection pressure to tetracycline was found to have a significant effect on the likelihood that the isolates would contain multiple resistance traits for other antibiotics. Identification of isolates selected on tetracycline was compared with that of isolates that were sensitive to tetracycline, and the community composition was found to be distinctly different, although isolates from the genera Chryseobacterium, Pseudomonas, and Stenotrophomonas were found in both communities.


2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (3B) ◽  
pp. 49
Author(s):  
Ngoc Thi Anh Tong

This study aimed to investigate the bacterial contamination of flake and cube ice being used dailyin the community. Thirty-one ice samples were collected from different areas in the city of Can Tho city, Vietnam. The enumeration of total aerobic mesophilic counts, the presence of coliforms and Escherichia coli (E. coli) and determination of antibiotics resistance of E. coli isolates were examined. The results indicated that total aerobic mesophilic counts ranged from 2.5 to 6.2 log CFU/mL and significant differences of total aerobic mesophilic counts were found between flake ice and cube ice (p < 0.05). Coliforms and E. coli were present on the ice samples of 93.55% and 58.06%, respectively. A total of 39 E. coli isolates were tested their resistance to 15 different antibiotics. The E. coli isolates of 74.36% were multi-resistance from three to thirteen antibiotics. The high prevalance was resistant to Ampicillin (79.49%), Cefotaxime (69.23%), Ceftazidime (46.15%), Tetracycline (56.41%), Sulfamethoxazole/Trimethoprime (46.15%), Colistin (20.51%), etc. As E. coli is an hygiene indicator and a candidate vehicle for the transfer of antibiotic resistance gene, it is highly recommended using clean and probable water in ice making as well as preventing the spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria.


2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 727-734 ◽  
Author(s):  
Baghdad Science Journal

Most approaches to combat antibiotic resistant bacteria concentrate on discovering new antibiotics or modifying existing ones. However, one of the most promising alternatives is the use of bacteriophages. This study was focused on the isolation of bacteriophages that are specific to some of commonly human pathogens namely E. coli, Streptococcus pyogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Proteus mirabilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella spp. and Klebsiella pneumoniae. These bacteriophages were isolated from sewages that were collected from four different locations in Kirkuk City. Apart from S. pyogenes, bacteriophages specific to all tested bacteria were successfully isolated and tested for their effectiveness by spot test. The most effective bacteriophages that were isolated from sewages and sewage water of Al-Jumhori Hospital compared to other sites. It is concluded that the sewage water of hospitals represents a perfect environment for these bacteriophages.


2019 ◽  
Vol 63 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Monika Dolejska ◽  
Ivan Literak

ABSTRACT Wild animals foraging in the human-influenced environment are colonized by bacteria with clinically important antibiotic resistance. The occurrence of such bacteria in wildlife is influenced by various biological, ecological, and geographical factors which have not yet been fully understood. More research focusing on the human-animal-environmental interface and using novel approaches is required to understand the role of wild animals in the transmission of antibiotic resistance and to assess potential risks for the public health.


2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott K Fridkin

Abstract Among the most urgent and serious threats to public health are 7 antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections predominately acquired during health-care delivery. There is an emerging field of health-care epidemiology that is focused on preventing health care–associated infections with antibiotic-resistant bacteria and incorporates data from patient transfers or patient movements within and between facilities. This analytic field is being used to help public health professionals identify best opportunities for prevention. Different analytic approaches that draw on uses of big data are being explored to help target the use of limited public health resources, leverage expertise, and enact effective policy to maximize an impact on population-level health. Here, the following recent advances in data-driven responses to preventing spread of antibiotic resistance across health-care settings are summarized: leveraging big data for machine learning, integration or advances in tracking patient movement, and highlighting the value of coordinating response across institutions within a region.


Author(s):  
Álvaro San Millán

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria currently represent one of the main public health problems and recent predictions indicate that they will soon become the world’s leading cause of death. The ill-fated journey from the introduction of antibiotics into clinical practice to the current threat of a post-antibiotic era has run its course in just a few decades. Thus, the evolution of antibiotic resistance is probably the most spectacular example of evolution of a biological system innovation that we have had the opportunity to observe in real time. This text discusses some of the evolutionary and molecular keys that have allowed bacteria to go down this path.


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