Introduction: Antimicrobial resistance has become a global problem due to the excessive use of antimicrobials in human and veterinary medicine. Wastewater from various sources often contains high levels of antimicrobial residues and resistant microorganisms. Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine the concentration of bacteria from the family Enterobacteriaceae and the genus Enterococcus in individual treatment phases at two wastewater treatment plants and to determine the resistance of isolated bacteria to the most commonly used antibiotics. The production of extended-spectrum β-lactamases and carbapenemases in enterobacterial strains, as well as the presence of vancomycin-resistant enterococci, was also investigated. Methods: The bacterial concentration in wastewater samples collected at different treatment phases in two wastewater treatment plants was determined using the plate count technique. Isolated strains were identified using biochemical methods. The Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method, the combined disk method, and the approximate disk method were used to investigate the resistance of strains to the most commonly used antibiotics. Results: In total 123 strains of the Enterobacteriaceae family and 79 strains of the Enterococcus genus were isolated from all samples. The most common strains belonged to the genera Escherichia spp. (30,1 %), Kluyvera spp. (17,9 %), and Salmonella spp. (11,4 %), while among enterococci, the species E. faecalis and E. faecium were predominant. Isolated enterobacterial strains from both municipal wastewater treatment plants were most often resistant to azithromycin (81,1 %), ampicillin (77,9 %), and cefpodoxime (69,3 %), while 3,8 % of enterococcal strains were resistant to vancomycin. The multidrug resistance index exceeded 0,2 in 109 strains (88,6 %). The largest proportion (51,4 %) of resistant enterobacteria was found in samples from aeration tanks. Discussion and conclusion: Based on the obtained index of multiple resistance to antibiotics, we found that wastewater plants are a high-risk environment in which bacteria are exposed to pressures to develop resistance. The origin and composition of wastewater and wastewater treatment technologies are factors on which the spread of antimicrobial resistance among microorganisms in the natural environment and the impact on other living organisms, including humans, depend.
|