Enterococci, Van Gene-Carrying Enterococci, and Vancomycin Concentrations in the Influent of a Wastewater Treatment Plant in Southeast Germany
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Published:2024-01-12
Issue:1
Volume:12
Page:149
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ISSN:2076-2607
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Container-title:Microorganisms
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language:en
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Short-container-title:Microorganisms
Author:
Geissler Michael1ORCID, Schröttner Percy12, Oertel Reinhard3, Dumke Roger1ORCID
Affiliation:
1. Institute of Medical Microbiology and Virology, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, 01307 Dresden, Germany 2. Institute for Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, 01307 Dresden, Germany 3. Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, 01307 Dresden, Germany
Abstract
Vancomycin-resistant (VR) Enterococcus spp. can be detected in high concentrations in wastewaters and pose a risk to public health. During a one-year study (September 2022–August 2023), 24 h composite raw wastewater samples (n = 192) of a municipal wastewater treatment plant were investigated for cultivable enterococci. After growth on Slanetz–Bartley agar (SBA), a mean concentration of 29,736 ± 9919 cfu/mL was calculated. Using MALDI-TOF MS to characterize randomly picked colonies (n = 576), the most common species were found to be Enterococcus faecium (72.6%), E. hirae (13.7%), and E. faecalis (8.0%). Parallel incubation of wastewater samples on SBA and VRESelect agar resulted in a mean rate of VR enterococci of 2.0 ± 1.5%. All the tested strains grown on the VRESelect agar (n = 172) were E. faecium and carried the vanA (54.6%) or vanB gene (45.4%) with limited sequence differences. In susceptibility experiments, these isolates showed a high-level resistance to vancomycin (>256 µg/mL). Concentration of vancomycin was determined in 93.7% of 112 wastewater samples (mean: 123.1 ± 64.0 ng/L) and varied between below 100 ng/L (the detection limit) and 246.6 ng/L. A correlation between the concentration of vancomycin and the rate of VR strains among the total enterococci could not be found. The combination of incubation of samples on SBA and a commercial vancomycin-containing agar applied in clinical microbiology with a multiplex PCR for detection of van genes is an easy-to-use tool to quantify and characterize VR Enterococcus spp. in water samples.
Funder
Sächsisches Staatsministerium für Wissenschaft, Kultur and Tourismus
Subject
Virology,Microbiology (medical),Microbiology
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