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May 2, 2017
By Sara Jerome
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria have been found on swimming beaches in Ireland and researchers are blaming wastewater dumping.Untreated sewage has a major consequence: It is littering the beaches of Europe with “superbugs.”
Researchers at National University of Ireland Galway made the discovery. Their finding marks the first time something called the “NDM enzyme” was found on European beaches, according to The Irish Times. It has otherwise been found in less developed countries.
“The enzyme, whose full name is New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase, makes bacteria highly resistant to some of the last-line antibiotics available to hospitals,” the report said.
Catching the enzyme can lead to major health problems for people with compromised immune systems, researchers say.
Allowing untreated sewage to flow into rivers and seas is the crux of the problem, according to researcher Martin Cormacin.
“For more than 150 years we have known that the key to preventing contamination by diseases such as typhoid and cholera was to prevent fecal matter that comes out of the bottom of one person entering the mouth of another. But in Ireland we have an 18th-century problem in the 21st century,” he said. “We are still allowing sewage to flow into the sea and rivers because we have not organised ourselves to build the treatment systems we need.”
LINK TO FULL ARTICLE
thank to Dave Roberts
By Sara Jerome
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria have been found on swimming beaches in Ireland and researchers are blaming wastewater dumping.Untreated sewage has a major consequence: It is littering the beaches of Europe with “superbugs.”
Researchers at National University of Ireland Galway made the discovery. Their finding marks the first time something called the “NDM enzyme” was found on European beaches, according to The Irish Times. It has otherwise been found in less developed countries.
“The enzyme, whose full name is New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase, makes bacteria highly resistant to some of the last-line antibiotics available to hospitals,” the report said.
Catching the enzyme can lead to major health problems for people with compromised immune systems, researchers say.
Allowing untreated sewage to flow into rivers and seas is the crux of the problem, according to researcher Martin Cormacin.
“For more than 150 years we have known that the key to preventing contamination by diseases such as typhoid and cholera was to prevent fecal matter that comes out of the bottom of one person entering the mouth of another. But in Ireland we have an 18th-century problem in the 21st century,” he said. “We are still allowing sewage to flow into the sea and rivers because we have not organised ourselves to build the treatment systems we need.”
LINK TO FULL ARTICLE
thank to Dave Roberts