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E. coli load higher in urban vs. hospital wastewater
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The load of Escherichia coli was higher in an urban wastewater network when compared with hospital wastewater, according to researchers from the University of Franche-Comté in France.
The researchers also found extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)–producing E. coli in nearly all environmental samples, which were collected from 11 sites during a 10-week period, according to the report in Clinical Infectious Diseases. The load of ESBL-producing E. coli was higher in hospital wastewater than in urban wastewater.
“In total, we estimate that 6 x 1011 [ESBL-producing E. coli] are released daily into the River Doubs and that the sludge … contains 2.6 x 105 [ESBL-producing E. coli] per gram,” the researchers wrote. “The extent to which this discharge of [ESBL-producing E. coli] into the environment contributes to the global epidemiology of this pathogen and, more particularly, to the acquisition of [ESBL-producing E. coli] by individuals, is unclear.”
Samples from 11 sites, including sites only containing hospital wastewater and sites within the waste water treatment plant at different times during the treatment process, were collected from January to April 2011. The researchers determined the E. coli load of the samples and performed genotyping on the isolates. They also measured the clearance rate at the wastewater treatment plant.
Among the 110 water or sludge samples, all were positive for E.coli and 96% tested positive for ESBL-producing E. coli in varying proportions. In urban wastewater, the mean E. coli load was 752,847 colony-forming units (CFU)/mL vs. 353,635 CFU/mL in hospital wastewater. The loads of ESBL-producing E. coli were 751 CFU/mL in urban wastewater and 27,447 CFU/mL in hospital wastewater.
The wastewater treatment plant removed 98% of total E. coli and 94% of ESBL-producing E.coli. Genotyping analysis found that there was significant diversity of the isolates both within the environment and among 51 clinical samples collected from patients at the hospital, but most isolates were found in both settings.
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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