Cargando…

The African Wastewater Resistome: Identifying Knowledge Gaps to Inform Future Research Directions

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing global public health threat. Furthermore, wastewater is increasingly recognized as a significant environmental reservoir for AMR. Wastewater is a complex mixture of organic and inorganic compounds, including antibiotics and other antimicrobial agents, disc...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Abia, Akebe Luther King, Baloyi, Themba, Traore, Afsatou N., Potgieter, Natasha
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10215879/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37237708
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics12050805
_version_ 1785048167879802880
author Abia, Akebe Luther King
Baloyi, Themba
Traore, Afsatou N.
Potgieter, Natasha
author_facet Abia, Akebe Luther King
Baloyi, Themba
Traore, Afsatou N.
Potgieter, Natasha
author_sort Abia, Akebe Luther King
collection PubMed
description Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing global public health threat. Furthermore, wastewater is increasingly recognized as a significant environmental reservoir for AMR. Wastewater is a complex mixture of organic and inorganic compounds, including antibiotics and other antimicrobial agents, discharged from hospitals, pharmaceutical industries, and households. Therefore, wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are critical components of urban infrastructure that play a vital role in protecting public health and the environment. However, they can also be a source of AMR. WWTPs serve as a point of convergence for antibiotics and resistant bacteria from various sources, creating an environment that favours the selection and spread of AMR. The effluent from WWTPs can also contaminate surface freshwater and groundwater resources, which can subsequently spread resistant bacteria to the wider environment. In Africa, the prevalence of AMR in wastewater is of particular concern due to the inadequate sanitation and wastewater treatment facilities, coupled with the overuse and misuse of antibiotics in healthcare and agriculture. Therefore, the present review evaluated studies that reported on wastewater in Africa between 2012 and 2022 to identify knowledge gaps and propose future perspectives, informing the use of wastewater-based epidemiology as a proxy for determining the resistome circulating within the continent. The study found that although wastewater resistome studies have increased over time in Africa, this is not the case in every country, with most studies conducted in South Africa. Furthermore, the study identified, among others, methodology and reporting gaps, driven by a lack of skills. Finally, the review suggests solutions including standardisation of protocols in wastewater resistome works and an urgent need to build genomic skills within the continent to handle the big data generated from these studies.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-10215879
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2023
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-102158792023-05-27 The African Wastewater Resistome: Identifying Knowledge Gaps to Inform Future Research Directions Abia, Akebe Luther King Baloyi, Themba Traore, Afsatou N. Potgieter, Natasha Antibiotics (Basel) Review Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing global public health threat. Furthermore, wastewater is increasingly recognized as a significant environmental reservoir for AMR. Wastewater is a complex mixture of organic and inorganic compounds, including antibiotics and other antimicrobial agents, discharged from hospitals, pharmaceutical industries, and households. Therefore, wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are critical components of urban infrastructure that play a vital role in protecting public health and the environment. However, they can also be a source of AMR. WWTPs serve as a point of convergence for antibiotics and resistant bacteria from various sources, creating an environment that favours the selection and spread of AMR. The effluent from WWTPs can also contaminate surface freshwater and groundwater resources, which can subsequently spread resistant bacteria to the wider environment. In Africa, the prevalence of AMR in wastewater is of particular concern due to the inadequate sanitation and wastewater treatment facilities, coupled with the overuse and misuse of antibiotics in healthcare and agriculture. Therefore, the present review evaluated studies that reported on wastewater in Africa between 2012 and 2022 to identify knowledge gaps and propose future perspectives, informing the use of wastewater-based epidemiology as a proxy for determining the resistome circulating within the continent. The study found that although wastewater resistome studies have increased over time in Africa, this is not the case in every country, with most studies conducted in South Africa. Furthermore, the study identified, among others, methodology and reporting gaps, driven by a lack of skills. Finally, the review suggests solutions including standardisation of protocols in wastewater resistome works and an urgent need to build genomic skills within the continent to handle the big data generated from these studies. MDPI 2023-04-24 /pmc/articles/PMC10215879/ /pubmed/37237708 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics12050805 Text en © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Review
Abia, Akebe Luther King
Baloyi, Themba
Traore, Afsatou N.
Potgieter, Natasha
The African Wastewater Resistome: Identifying Knowledge Gaps to Inform Future Research Directions
title The African Wastewater Resistome: Identifying Knowledge Gaps to Inform Future Research Directions
title_full The African Wastewater Resistome: Identifying Knowledge Gaps to Inform Future Research Directions
title_fullStr The African Wastewater Resistome: Identifying Knowledge Gaps to Inform Future Research Directions
title_full_unstemmed The African Wastewater Resistome: Identifying Knowledge Gaps to Inform Future Research Directions
title_short The African Wastewater Resistome: Identifying Knowledge Gaps to Inform Future Research Directions
title_sort african wastewater resistome: identifying knowledge gaps to inform future research directions
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10215879/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37237708
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics12050805
work_keys_str_mv AT abiaakebelutherking theafricanwastewaterresistomeidentifyingknowledgegapstoinformfutureresearchdirections
AT baloyithemba theafricanwastewaterresistomeidentifyingknowledgegapstoinformfutureresearchdirections
AT traoreafsatoun theafricanwastewaterresistomeidentifyingknowledgegapstoinformfutureresearchdirections
AT potgieternatasha theafricanwastewaterresistomeidentifyingknowledgegapstoinformfutureresearchdirections
AT abiaakebelutherking africanwastewaterresistomeidentifyingknowledgegapstoinformfutureresearchdirections
AT baloyithemba africanwastewaterresistomeidentifyingknowledgegapstoinformfutureresearchdirections
AT traoreafsatoun africanwastewaterresistomeidentifyingknowledgegapstoinformfutureresearchdirections
AT potgieternatasha africanwastewaterresistomeidentifyingknowledgegapstoinformfutureresearchdirections