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Weather applications often report poor air quality, which is common in urban areas with high levels of outdoor pollution containing particulate matter and soot. But now, scientists report in the ACS study Environmental Science & Technology that there is another type of air contaminant that they believe do not receive enough attention: the genes for antibiotic resistance.
According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least 2 million people in the United States are infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria each year. Research has shown that antibiotic-resistant genes (ARGs) can pass bacteria to bacteria, or even bacteria to the environment. For example, tetracycline resistance genes have been found near animal feed operations, and β-lactam resistance genes have been found in California urban parks. These studies indicated that airborne transmission could be a factor in the spread and exposure of ARGs. But current air pollution surveys do not usually consider ARGs. Thus, Maosheng Yao and his colleagues wanted to examine airborne ARGs on a global scale.
The team conducted a survey of 30 ARGs in 19 cities worldwide, including San Francisco, Beijing and Paris. The group studied ARGs resistant to seven common classes of antibiotics: quinolones, β-lactams, macrolides, tetracyclines, sulfonamides, aminoglycosides and vancomycins. Beijing had the most diverse group of airborne ARGs, with 18 different subtypes detected, while San Francisco had the highest overall level of airborne ARGs. The β-lactam and quinolone-resistant genes were the two most abundant types of ARG in all the cities studied. Low levels of ARG resistant to vancomycin, an antibiotic of last resort for the treatment of MRSA, have been observed in the air in six cities.
Learn more:
Scientists Map Distribution of Antimicrobial Resistance in Major Chinese Cities
More information:
Global Survey of Antibiotic Resistance Genes in the Air Environmental Science & Technology (2018). Despite the emergence of a major public health problem, the presence of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in urban air has not been recognized. significant attention. Here, we profiled relative abundances (as a fraction, normalized by 16S rRNA gene) of 30 ARG subtypes resistant to seven common classes of antibiotics, which are quinolones, β-lactams, macrolides, tetracyclines, sulfonamides , aminoglycosides and vancomycins, in the ambient air. total particles (MP) using a new protocol in 19 cities worldwide. In addition, their longitudinal changes in samples from P2.5 to Xi, in China, were also studied. From a geographical point of view, the ARGs varied by almost 100 times, for example from 0.07 (Bandung, Indonesia) to 5.6 (San Francisco, USA). The gene for the β-lactam resistance gene was found to be the most abundant, supported by the quinolone resistance gene qepA; and their corresponding relative abundances increased by 178% and 26% respectively from 2004 to 2014 in Xi. Regardless of cities, genetic network analysis indicates that airborne ARGs have been made differently by bacterial taxa. The results reveal that urban air is polluted by ARGs and that different cities are facing various health risks associated with airborne ARG exposure. This work highlights the threat of urban ARG airborne transmission and the need to redefine our current air quality standards in terms of public health.
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