Systematic review and meta-analysis of environmental Vibrio species – antibiotic resistance

Adequate comprehension of the genomics of microbial resistance to an antimicrobial agent will advance knowledge on the management of associated pathologies and public health safety. However, continued emergences and reemergence of pathogens, including Vibrio species, hallmarks a potential knowledge gap. A clear understanding of the process and forecast of the next trend should be in place to nip in the bud, microbial acquisition of resistance to antibiotics. Therefore, this two-decade (1 January 2000 to 31 December 2019) systematic review and meta-analytical study articulated the prevalence and incidence of antibiotics resistance genes in Vibrio species isolated from environmental samples. Articles from the Web of Science and PubMed electronic databases was engaged. Heterogeneity of the data and bias were analyzed with random effect model meta-analysis and funnel plot. A total of 1920 Vibrio sp. were reported by the ten selected articles included in this study; out of which 32.39% of identified isolates displayed antimicrobial resistance and associated genes. The distribution of antibiotics resistance genes in Vibrio sp., reported within six countries was 21% tetracycline (tet), and 20% sulphonamide (sul) and β-lactamase (bla) respectively. The quinolone, tetracycline and sulfonamide resistance genes showed 32.97% (95% CI 0.18–0.53) prevalence while chloramphenicol, macrolides and aminoglycoside resistance genes are expressed in percentages as 28.67% (95% CI 0.15–0.47) and β-lactamase resistance genes 27.93% (95% CI 0.11–0.56) respectively. The Vibrio antibiotics resistance genes (V-ARG) distribution depicts no regular trend or pattern from the analyzed data. Consequently, more studies would be required to articulate the structure of cohesion in the distribution of the resistance determinants in microbes.