MRSA Superbug Found In US Wastewater Plants

[Gert van der Hoek]

MRSA Superbug Found In US Wastewater Plants

06 Nov 2012

Scientists have found the superbug MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) at four US wastewater treatment plants. In the past, the drug-resistant bacterium, which causes potentially fatal, difficult to treat infections, was mostly found in people in hospital settings, but is now increasingly found in healthy people in the wider community.

The team, led by researchers from the University of Maryland School of Public Health, report their findings in the November issue of the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

Study leader Amy R Sapkota, assistant professor in the Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health, says in a statement:

"MRSA infections acquired outside of hospital settings -- known as community-acquired MRSA or CA-MRSA -- are on the rise and can be just as severe as hospital-acquired MRSA."

The team suggests these findings show that while wastewater treatment plants do effectively reduce the amount of MRSA and MSSA present as the treatment progresses from influent to effluent, they may actually be selecting for increased antibiotic resistance and virulence, particularly if there is no tertiary chlorination.

read more: Medical News Today

See also:

Antibiotic Resistance Spreads Through Environment, Threatens Modern Medicine

Sewage treatment plants may contribute to antibiotic resistance problem

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