article · Advances in Microbiology
A cross-sectional investigation evaluated bacterial pathogens and their drug resistance profiles in wastewater from Ayder Referral Hospital in Northern Ethiopia. Analysis of forty composite samples gathered between September and December 2015 revealed high bacterial loads in treated wastewater, including coliforms and Escherichia coli. Across all samples, 134 bacterial isolates were recovered, with 84 from untreated wastewater and 50 from treated wastewater. The most prevalent isolates across both sources were Klebsiella species, Staphylococcus aureus, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Multidrug resistance was observed in 79.1 percent of isolates overall, reaching 76.2 percent in untreated wastewater and 84 percent in treated effluent. The significantly higher proportion of multidrug-resistant bacteria in treated effluent indicates that existing treatment fails to eliminate resistant pathogens, highlighting the need for continuous effluent monitoring and the introduction of final chlorination.
Hospital wastewater can serve as a reservoir for drug-resistant pathogens if discharge treatment is insufficient. When treated effluents retain high concentrations of multidrug-resistant bacteria, they risk contaminating surrounding environments and water systems. Demonstrating that treatment ponds leave resistant bacteria intact underscores the immediate public health need to improve hospital waste management practices and install effective sanitisation processes.
The abstract does not evaluate a commercial product or outline a direct route to market. However, the demonstrated persistence of multidrug-resistant bacteria in hospital effluent points to an operational demand for secondary disinfection systems, such as chlorination units, and environmental monitoring services. Municipalities and healthcare facilities seeking to meet safety standards would be the primary users of such applied wastewater sanitation interventions.
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The widespread emergence of antibiotic resistance among bacterial pathogens has become one of the most serious challenges in Ethiopia. This study determined the prevalence and drug resistance patterns of bacterial pathogens isolated from treated and untreated wastewater released from Ayder Referral Hospital in Northern Ethiopia. A cross sectional study design was conducted from September-December, 2015 in wastewater released from Ayder referral hospital. A total of 40 composite samples were aseptically collected, transported and processed for enumeration of indicator organisms, bacteriological identification and susceptibility testing following standard procedure. Data obtained were entered and analyzed using SPSS version 20. Mean heterotrophic plate count, total coliform count, fecal coliform count and E. coli count were found to be 1.6 × 106 CFU/mL, 2.2 × 106 CFU/100 mL, 2.0 × 105 CFU/100 mL and 1.1 × 104 CFU/100 mL from treated wastewater respectively. Among the total samples 134 bacterial isolates were detected and [84 (62.7%)] were from untreated wastewater and [50 (37.3%)] were from treated wastewater. The most frequently isolated bacteria from untreated wastewater samples was Klebsiella spp [14 (16.7%)] followed by S. aureus [13 (15.5%)] and P. aeruginosa [12 (14.3%)], similarly in treated wastewater samples Klebsiella spp [10 (20%)], P. aeruginosa [8 (16%)] and S. aureus [8 (16%)] were frequently detected. The overall multi-drug resistance (MDR) in this study was [79/134 (79.1%)]. MDR from untreated wastewater sample was [64/84 (76.2%)] while from treated wastewater sample was [42/50 (84%)] and shows significant difference with (COR: 1.64, 95% CI: 1.15 - 3.29, P: 0.001). It is concluded that treated hospital wastewater contains large numbers of antibiotic resistant bacteria. Therefore, there should be continuous monitoring and evaluation of the effluent quality of the ponds and chlorination of the final effluent should be developed.
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DOI: 10.4236/aim.2017.712067
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