Multidrug ‐resistant Enterococcus faecium strains enter the Norwegian marine environment through treated sewage

This study investigated the prevalence of antibiotic resistance inEnterococcus spp. from raw and treated sewage in Bergen, Norway. We analyzed 307  Enterococcus faecium isolates from raw sewage and 185E. faecium isolates from treated sewage for antibiotic sensitivity and sequenced selected isolates (n = 25). This study found that multidrug-resistantE. faecium clones from clonal complex 17 are entering the marine environment through treated sewage. AbstractThis study aimed to understand the antibiotic resistance prevalence amongEnterococcus spp. from raw and treated sewage in Bergen city, Norway. In total, 517Enterococcus spp. isolates were obtained from raw and treated sewage from five sewage treatment plants (STPs) over three sampling occasions, withEnterococcus faecium as the most prevalent (n = 492) species.E. faecium strains (n = 307) obtained from the influent samples, showed the highest resistance against quinupristin/dalfopristin (67.8%). We observed reduced susceptibility to erythromycin (30.6%) and tetracycline (6.2%) in these strains.E. faecium strains (n = 185) obtained from the effluent samples showed highest resistance against quinupristin/dalfopristin (68.1%) and reduced susceptibility to erythromycin (24.9%) and tetracycline (8.6%). We did not detect resistance against last-resort antibiotics, such as linezolid, vancomycin, and tigecycline in any of the strains. Multidrug-resistant (MDR)E. faecium strains were detected in both influent (2.3%) a...
Source: MicrobiologyOpen - Category: Microbiology Authors: Tags: ORIGINAL ARTICLE Source Type: research