Analysis of the Occurrence of Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria in the Hospital’s Effluent and its Receiving Environment

Abstract

The use of antibiotics on a regular and excessive basis is a major factor in the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Patients discharge un-metabolized or relatively low doses of non-metabolized antibiotics through urine and stool, which might enter into the environment through sewage disposal and promote the emergence of antibiotic resistant bacteria. This study is designed to investigate how excessive use of antibiotics in the hospital sector and their release into hospital wastes contribute to the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in different environmental settings. In this study, liquid hospital waste was collected from the sewage of Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH), Bangladesh as well as from its distribution position in Chittagong city, Bangladesh. A total of 5 samples were collected from different positions in Chittagong city, including CMCH liquid waste. After collection, total bacteria and total cefixime resistant bacteria were counted by the total viable count (TVC) method. The result of bacteriological enumeration showed that a high magnitude of cefixime-resistant bacteria were available in all the hospital’s associated waste samples. The highest proportion of cefixime resistant bacteria (23.35%) was found in sample 2, whereas 17.4%, 7.6%, 5%, and 1.32% were found in samples 1, 3, 4, and 5, respectively. The total number of cefixime-resistant bacteria decreased with the increase in distance between the sample collection site and the hospital drain. This means that resistant bacteria developed in the hospital effluent are transferred to the environmental distribution sites.