The concentration of antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli in hospital wastewater is approximately 33 times higher than in community wastewater, which may be contributing to the overall spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, according to a study in Clinical Infectious Diseases.
Researchers collected weekly samples from 11 sites in the wastewater network in a French city over 10 weeks. They analyzed each sample for concentrations of E. coli as well as extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing E. coli, a strain resistant to beta-lactam antibiotics.
They found of the concentration of E. coli in urban wastewater was approximately two times higher than in hospital wastewater.
However, the concentration of ESBLEC was significantly higher, approximately 33 times higher, in hospital wastewater than in community wastewater.
Treatment by wastewater treatment plants eliminated 98 percent of total E. coli bacteria and 94 percent of total ESBLEC.
Researchers suggest there is a need for improving the monitoring of antibiotic-resistant in water leaving the hospital.
"We have another opportunity to limit exposure to resistant organisms through the disinfection and treatment of hospital waste," the authors wrote, according to a Medscape report on the study. "What happens in hospitals should stay in hospitals."
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