New research conducted at Uppsala University shows that extremely low concentrations of antibiotics can enrich for antibiotic resistant bacteria. The research suggests that antibiotic residue introduced to the environment via people and animals contributes to the problem of antibiotic resistance. The findings have just been published in the well-respected journal PLoS Pathogens.
Antibiotic resistance is a growing medical problem that threatens the effectiveness of health care the world over. It has until now been thought that resistant bacteriawere primarily selected in people and animals undergoing high-dosage antibiotictreatment for infection. The just-published findings indicate, however, that the very low concentrations of antibiotics found in such external environments as sewage systems, lakes and rivers also play a role in selecting for resistance.
“About half of the antibiotic dose used in treating a person or animal leaves the body in unchanged, active form via the urine,” explains Uppsala University Professor Dan Andersson, who led the study jointly with Professor Diarmaid Hughes, also of UppsalaUniversity.
Antibiotics released are spread via sewage systems to water and soil. Stableantibiotics can remain active in the environment for a very long time, causing enrichment of resistant bacteria, which in turn can infect people and animals via, for example, food. It is estimated that in Sweden alone, 10 to 20 tonnes of activeantibiotics are released each year to the environment via the urine of people and animals treated for infection. It is plausible that more than 100,000 tonnes ofantibiotics annually enter the environment in this way worldwide, though the figure is subject to uncertainty.
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