Antibiotic resistance of Escherichia coli isolates from hospital and throughout wastewater system
Mentor 1
Troy Skwor
Start Date
1-5-2020 12:00 AM
Description
Antibiotic resistance has a profound effect on human health with an economic burden of $55 billion in the United States alone. According to the Center for Disease Control, 2.8 million people are infected with antibiotic resistant bacteria resulting in 35,000 deaths in the USA every year. One challenge in combating this global health problem is finding the source of these clinical resistant strains, which can range from anthropogenic activity to agricultural. Our research aims to identify antibiotic resistance patterns among clinical E. coli isolates and determine if they persist throughout the wastewater system. Hospital wastewater, as well as influent, pre-chlorinated and post-chlorinated effluents from an urban wastewater treatment facility were filtered and placed on modified mTEC to obtain E. coli isolates. Wastewater samples were obtained on three separate dates from each source during October 2018. Antimicrobial susceptibility of these isolates (n=128), as well as E. coli isolates from urinary tract infections (n=78) were determined using the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion assay for ceftriaxone, ceftazidime, imipenem (IPM), meropenem (MEM), ciprofloxacin, SXT, gentamicin, and tetracycline. Antibiotic resistant genes were amplified by PCR and analyzed using agarose gel electrophoresis for the presence of amplicons. Overall, hospital wastewater isolates exhibited resistance against a greater number of antibiotics as well as the highest prevalence. Clinical isolates demonstrated resistance to at least one antibiotic in 45% of isolates, although their resistant profiles differed significantly from hospital effluents except ciprofloxacin (25.6 vs 29.7% respectively). Throughout the wastewater system (e.g. influent to post-chlorinated effluents), resistance remained relatively similar except a surge in SXT resistance among post-chlorinated isolates (4% to 24%). All isolates were susceptible to carbapenems. Together, our data highlight the high prevalence of antibiotic resistance coming from hospitals compared to urban wastewater with significant differences in the antibiogram.
Antibiotic resistance of Escherichia coli isolates from hospital and throughout wastewater system
Antibiotic resistance has a profound effect on human health with an economic burden of $55 billion in the United States alone. According to the Center for Disease Control, 2.8 million people are infected with antibiotic resistant bacteria resulting in 35,000 deaths in the USA every year. One challenge in combating this global health problem is finding the source of these clinical resistant strains, which can range from anthropogenic activity to agricultural. Our research aims to identify antibiotic resistance patterns among clinical E. coli isolates and determine if they persist throughout the wastewater system. Hospital wastewater, as well as influent, pre-chlorinated and post-chlorinated effluents from an urban wastewater treatment facility were filtered and placed on modified mTEC to obtain E. coli isolates. Wastewater samples were obtained on three separate dates from each source during October 2018. Antimicrobial susceptibility of these isolates (n=128), as well as E. coli isolates from urinary tract infections (n=78) were determined using the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion assay for ceftriaxone, ceftazidime, imipenem (IPM), meropenem (MEM), ciprofloxacin, SXT, gentamicin, and tetracycline. Antibiotic resistant genes were amplified by PCR and analyzed using agarose gel electrophoresis for the presence of amplicons. Overall, hospital wastewater isolates exhibited resistance against a greater number of antibiotics as well as the highest prevalence. Clinical isolates demonstrated resistance to at least one antibiotic in 45% of isolates, although their resistant profiles differed significantly from hospital effluents except ciprofloxacin (25.6 vs 29.7% respectively). Throughout the wastewater system (e.g. influent to post-chlorinated effluents), resistance remained relatively similar except a surge in SXT resistance among post-chlorinated isolates (4% to 24%). All isolates were susceptible to carbapenems. Together, our data highlight the high prevalence of antibiotic resistance coming from hospitals compared to urban wastewater with significant differences in the antibiogram.
