Exploring the antibiogram of soil isolates from an Indian hospital precinct: link to antibiotic usage

Kunhikannan, Shalini; Thomas, Colleen; Sumana, Mahadevaiah; Franks, Ashley; Kumar, S; Nagarathna, S; Petrovski, Steve; Shindler, Anya

doi:10.26181/24862584.v1

Exploring the antibiogram of soil isolates from an Indian hospital precinct: link to antibiotic usage

journal contribution

posted on 2023-12-19, 00:46 authored by Shalini Kunhikannan, Colleen ThomasColleen Thomas, Mahadevaiah Sumana, Ashley FranksAshley Franks, S Kumar, S Nagarathna, Steve PetrovskiSteve Petrovski, Anya ShindlerAnya Shindler

Objective: Hospitals serve as hotspots of antibiotic resistance. Despite several studies exploring antibiotic resistance in hospitals, none have explored the resistance profile of soil bacteria from a hospital precinct. This study examined and compared the antibiogram of the soil isolates from a hospital and its affiliated university precinct, to determine if antibiotic resistant bacteria were present closer to the hospital. Results: 120 soil samples were collected from JSS Hospital and JSS University in Mysore, India across three consecutive seasons (monsoon, winter and summer). 366 isolates were randomly selected from culture. Antibiotic susceptibility testing was performed on 128 isolates of Pseudomonas (n = 73), Acinetobacter (n = 30), Klebsiella species (n = 15) and Escherichia coli (n = 10). Pseudomonas species exhibited the highest antibiotic resistance. Ticarcillin-clavulanic acid, an extended-spectrum carboxypenicillin antibiotic used to treat moderate-to-severe infections, ranked highest amongst the antibiotics to whom these isolates were resistant (n = 51 out of 73, 69.9%). Moreover, 56.8% (n = 29) were from the hospital and 43.1% (n = 22) were from the university precinct, indicating antibiotic resistant bacteria were closer to the hospital setting. This study highlights the effect of antibiotic usage in hospitals and the influence of anthropogenic activities in the hospital on the dissemination of antibiotic resistance into hospital precinct soil.

Funding

This research was funded by La Trobe University (LTU), Bundoora, Victoria, Australia and the Jagadguru Sri Shivarathreeshwara (JSS) Academy of Higher Education and Research, Mysuru, Karnataka, India. S.K. is a recipient of an LTU-JSS PhD scholarship.

History

Publication Date

2023-08-15

Journal

BMC Research Notes

Volume

16

Article Number

173

Pagination

11p.

Publisher

Springer Nature

ISSN

1756-0500

Rights Statement

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