Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Aerosols: Baseline from Kuwait

Abstract

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the biggest threats to human health worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO, Geneva, Switzerland) has launched the “One-Health” approach, which encourages assessment of antibiotic-resistant genes (ARGs) within environments shared by human-animals-plants-microbes to constrain and alleviate the development of AMR. Aerosols as a medium to disseminate ARGs, have received minimal attention. In the present study, we investigated the distribution and abundance of ARGs in indoor and outdoor aerosols collected from an urban location in Kuwait and the interior of three hospitals. The high throughput quantitative polymerase chain reaction (HT-qPCR) approach was used for this purpose. The results demonstrate the presence of aminoglycoside, beta-lactam, fluoroquinolone, tetracycline, macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin B (MLSB), multidrug-resistant (MDR) and vancomycin-resistant genes in the aerosols. The most dominant drug class was beta-lactam and the genes were IMP-2-group (0.85), Per-2 group (0.65), OXA-54 (0.57), QnrS (0.50) and OXA-55 (0.55) in the urban non-clinical settings. The indoor aerosols possessed a richer diversity (Observed, Chao1, Shannon’s and Pielou’s evenness) of ARGs compared to the outdoors. Seasonal variations (autumn vs. winter) in relative abundances and types of ARGs were also recorded (R2 of 0.132 at p < 0.08). The presence of ARGs was found in both the inhalable (2.1 µm, 1.1 µm, 0.7 µm and < 0.3 µm) and respirable (>9.0 µm, 5.8 µm, 4.7 µm and 3.3 µm) size fractions within hospital aerosols. All the ARGs are of pathogenic bacterial origin and are hosted by pathogenic forms. The findings present baseline data and underpin the need for detailed investigations looking at aerosol as a vehicle for ARG dissemination among human and non-human terrestrial biota.

Antibiotic Resistance Mediated by Escherichia coli in Kuwait Marine Environment as Revealed through Genomic Analysis

“…Worldwide circulation of beta-lactamases have been reported recently with more than 40% in Asian countries [ 48 ]. A baseline study also documented the presence of beta-lactams in aerosols collected from a public building situated near the coast of Kuwait [ 49 ]. Moreover, trimethoprim resistance was confirmed in strains KHE11 and CW138.…”

Spatial Variations in the Nasal Microbiota of Staff Working in a Healthcare-Associated Research Core Facility

“…Microbes are ubiquitous in human biomes; however, the consortia vary according to the variations in their surroundings in which an individual spends majority of his/her time. Some previous reports have demonstrated different bacteria, fungi, viruses, and antibiotic-resistance genes within the wards, reception, pharmacy area, laboratories, and pediatric rooms of three major hospitals in Kuwait [ 3 – 5 , 32 ]. Spatial diversity is, therefore, expected to shape the microbiomes.…”

“…Workers in the healthcare sector are exposed to microbial contaminants via several routes [1]. Indoor air circulating within hospitals, laboratories, and ancillary areas contains a variety of microbial communities and is considered the most viable channel to transmit them to human occupants via inhalation [2][3][4][5]. The anterior nasal cavity is the primary point of entry of these bacteria into the respiratory system of humans [6].…”

Antibiotic Resistance Genes and Faecal Sterols in Marine Sediments: An Evidence of Their Presence away from Point Sources–Kuwait’s Example

“…PCR was run on a CFX96 TM Deep Well thermal cycler (BioRad, Hamburg, Germany). The cycling conditions for the PCR are described in our previous studies [38]. A melt curve analysis (60 • C) was performed to rule out non-specific amplification and primer-dimers.…”