Hyderabad’s open drains reveal alarming levels of antibiotic-resistant bacteria

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria that can infect humans, livestock and animals are quite common around Hyderabad, according to a wastewater study that traces the city’s growing Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR) problem to rampant antibiotic misuse.

Scientists from the Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), in collaboration with the Tata Institute of Genetics and Society (TIGS), Bengaluru, and the Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, conducted the study using samples collected from 10 open drains, four rivers and three lakes a few years ago. All sampled sites receive untreated sewage from households, industries and farming activities.

Researchers identified 13 unique resistance mechanisms across 17 sampling points, indicating widespread antibiotic resistance in environmental bacterial communities. Access to Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) proved difficult due to the lack of official permits, leading the team to rely on open sewers. They found that open drainage systems in major cities provide an unbiased snapshot of AMR patterns circulating in the environment.

These bacterial communities have the potential to infect a wide variety of hosts, including humans, livestock, birds, and animals. Using a culture-independent metagenomic approach, scientists analyzed samples from open drains in the twin cities and found that all pathogens listed on the India priority pathogen list developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) country office in collaboration with the Ministry of Biotechnology were present in the city’s wastewater. Haemophilus influenzae.

The World Health Organization divides priority antibiotic-resistant pathogens into critical, high and medium categories according to the severity of the threat they pose. The findings suggest that many important pathogens have evolved or acquired antibiotic resistance genes to evade multiple classes of antibiotics and drugs in the host. AMR patterns were generally similar across urban geographic locations; This reflected the widespread and indiscriminate use of antibiotics among the public.

Analysis of 89 unique Antibiotic Resistance Genes (ARGs) revealed high resistance to macrolides and subsequently to aminoglycosides, tetracyclines and beta-lactams. Resistance was detected in 72 drug classes, including aminoglycoside, macrolide, tetracycline, fluoroquinolone, elfamycin and lincosamide antibiotics.

Among the pathogens detected; Helicobacter pylori recorded the highest number of normalized readings, followed by Campylobacter jejuni, Escherichia coli, Neisseria gonorrhoeae And Neisseria meningitidis. All but one location showed the presence of these five pathogens, accounting for 55.1% of the total pathogen reads.

The researchers suggested that examining seasonal changes could help provide deeper insight into the AMR environment. They also highlighted the potential of open drainage sampling as an effective surveillance model for semi-urban and rural areas lacking organized sewer systems and STPs.

“The problem is widespread across the country and subsequent studies in many cities have shown alarming levels of AMR in both large and small urban centers alike,” said TIGS Director and former CSIR-CCMB Director Rakesh Mishra. “Since wastes include inputs from humans, animals, industries, poultry and farming practices, samples from open drainage areas provide a comprehensive picture of environmental AMR,” he added.

Study published in the journal Environmental Research The past year underscores the urgency of combating antimicrobial resistance not only in healthcare settings, but also in shared settings.