Abstract
Multiple antibiotic resistant bacteria (MARB) and antimicrobial drugs enter the environment via wastewater, especially from hospitals and pharmaceutical plants, and through agricultural runoff, leading to contamination of surface and groundwater. This is a serious problem in arid regions such as Oman where wastewater is recycled for irrigation and recharging aquifers. Treatment with chlorine does not completely remove bacteria from wastewater or prevent their re-growth in downstream distribution systems. MARB can infect humans via contaminated food and drinking water, or directly from the environment. Agricultural runoff and sewage, either treated or untreated, are also the main sources of MARB in coastal seawater. It is necessary to use antibiotics more prudently in medicine, treat wastewater more effectively, eliminate the discharge of untreated waste into the environment, and curtail the proflgate use of antibiotics as growth promoters for livestock.
Highlights
Wastewater treatment and survival of antibiotic resistant bacteriaIt is clear that antibiotic-resistant bacteria can be detected in wastewater treatment plants
Multiple antibiotic resistant bacteria (MARB) and antimicrobial drugs enter the environment via wastewater, especially from hospitals and pharmaceutical plants, and through agricultural runoff, leading to contamination of surface and groundwater
Sewage treatment plants are the main sources of antibiotics and MARB released to the environment, is a serious public health concern [3]
Summary
It is clear that antibiotic-resistant bacteria can be detected in wastewater treatment plants. Enumeration of bacteria in effluent from distribution lines used for irrigation showed that treated sewage had the lowest counts immediately after chlorination, but that microbial re-growth increased significantly while chlorine concentration decreased drastically at the end of the line and that isolates were resistant to several antibiotics [1]. The mechanisms by which bacteria develop resistance to chlorine include: (i) modification of cell surface structures which may lead to increased aggregation or clumping of cells in situ, (ii) formation of resistant endospores, (iii) microbial adhesion to pipe surfaces or to suspended particulate matter such as detritus or clay particles, and (iv) extrusion of protective extracellular capsular or slime layers [12] Another factor in the survival and growth of bacteria downstream from disinfection is the loss of potency of the chlorine. At low temperature chlorine activity decreases [28]
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