Sweden: Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria Found In Sewage Sludge

[mixin]

Vancomycin resistant enterococci (VRE) have been found in sewage sludge, a by-product of waste-water treatment frequently used as a fertilizer. Researchers writing in the open access journal Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica point out the danger of antibiotic resistance genes passing into the human food chain.

Leena Sahlstr?m, from the Finnish Food safety Authority, worked with a team of researchers from the Swedish National Veterinary Institute to study sewage sludge from a waste-water treatment plant in Uppsala, Sweden. She said, "Antimicrobial resistance is a serious threat in veterinary medicine and human healthcare. Resistance genes can spread from animals, through the food-chain, and back to humans. Sewage sludge may act as one link in this chain".

The researchers collected sludge from the plant every week for four months, for a total of 77 samples. Of these, 79% tested positive for the drug resistant superbugs. Although VRE themselves are not generally considered to be highly pathogenic, the danger is that they may pass on their resistance genes to other bacteria. Sahlstr?m concludes, "Our results demonstrate a need for more efficient hygienic treatment of sewage sludge, in order to avoid possible spread of antimicrobial resistance through use of sewage sludge on arable land".

Vancomycin resistant enterococci (VRE) in Swedish sewage sludge
Leena Sahlstr?m, Verena Rehbinder, Ann Albihn, Anna Aspan and Bj?rn Bengtsson
Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica (in press) http://www.actavetscand.com/

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/151888.php

 

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: Sweden: Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria Found In Sewage Sludge

First it's municipal landfills preserving influenza, now it's sewage sludge preserving resistant bacteria. I think I know who's winning this game.

.

 

[mixin]

Re: Sweden: Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria Found In Sewage Sludge

First it's municipal landfills preserving influenza, now it's sewage sludge preserving resistant bacteria. I think I know who's winning this game.

.

Clue me in.

 

[tropical]

Re: Sweden: Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria Found In Sewage Sludge

The microbes are winners.

Our cloacas are worldwide mainly trasporting all the scum into riwers/sea/oceans without biologic filtration.

It is the equivalent of spitt. into the glass of water at the table, and that goes on for a few century.

Now our generations will pay the consequences. Where is the hystorical judging now ...

 

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: Sweden: Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria Found In Sewage Sludge

Clue me in.

The ability of pathogens to persist via adaptation or good initial design appears to exceed the ability of humans to keep them at acceptable numbers.

.

 

[mixin]

Re: Sweden: Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria Found In Sewage Sludge

lol. I was thinking about the ecological issues of environmental contamination and couldn't figure out who you thought the winner was from what I posted.

I found a fairly large amount of drugs in one of my houses and the police told me to flush them down the toilet. I did as they said but sure didn't feel right about it... and I was thinking about that when I posted this article.

You're right about the pathogens winning.

 

[hornblower]

Re: Sweden: Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria Found In Sewage Sludge

I found a fairly large amount of drugs in one of my houses and the police told me to flush them down the toilet. I did as they said but sure didn't feel right about it... and I was thinking about that when I posted this article.

Good grief.

It's illegal to do that here. Legal drugs are to be returned to pharmacists who are all participating in a program to take back unused meds & dispose of them safely. Illegal stuff (hey, it's BC. It's a crop ) is of course confiscated by the police.....

I believe increasingly more pharmacist associations are participating in medicine return programs to keep meds out of the sewage & out of landfills.

 

[mixin]

Re: Sweden: Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria Found In Sewage Sludge

I thought it was probably crack. I don't know what our police here do with illegal drugs.

The neighbor told me for that amount of drugs, I'd be looking at: "50 years hard time if you are caught in possession"; so the rocks went immediately down the toilet.

In my county, we have 1 day each month we can take non-dumpable stuff to a disposal site. I think they also accept drugs (legal ones, of course ).