Prevalence of Antibiotic Residues, Antibiotic Resistance Bacteria and Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Hospital Wastewater: Silent threat to Human Health

Abstract

Abstract Hospital wastewater tends to be a hotspot for the environmental spread of antibiotic resistance, as recent studies have shown that antibiotic residues, resistant bacteria, and resistant genes occur in aquatic environments. The present study reports antibiotic residues, bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics, and genes associated with antibiotic resistance in hospital wastewater in Sri Lanka. The highest concentration of AMX (0.001-0.024 µg/ml) and AMP (0.001-0.023 µg/ml) among the selected antibiotics were detected in hospital wastewater effluent. The antibiotic-resistant pathogenic bacteria, E. coli (31 %), Staphylococcus sp. (23%), Acinetobactersp. (19%), Streptococcus sp. (10%), Pseudomonas aerugenosa (8%), Klebsiella pneumonia (6%), Moraxella sp. (3%), Aeromonas hydrophila (1%) and Streptomycessp. (1%) were found as indigenous bacteria which indicate increase the risk of ARGs which directly effect on public health. The study's findings made apparent the significance of developing a specific treatment plant at the site to remove antibiotics before discharging hospital wastewater to the natural environment. Therefore, it is necessary to develop and apply innovative treatment technologies as a national policy to protect people from silent killers who will no longer be susceptible to antibiotics in the future, which has been identified as a challenge in the health sector.