Relating antimicrobial use to wastewater resistance gene patterns via metagenomic analysis of two neighboring treatment plants circa the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABSTRACT: Minimizing antimicrobial use is a recommended strategy to reduce the evolution and spread of antibiotic resistance; however, efficacy is elusive to measure. Wastewater-based surveillance provides a promising means to relate trends in microbial community antibiotic resistance profiles as a function of interventions and other factors. We examined influent sewage metagenomes for two neighboring wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) serving a university and a nearby community. We compared antibiotic resistance gene (ARG) profiles as a function of diagnoses of COVID-19 and other illnesses, antibiotic use, antibiotic/antimicrobial and disinfectant/quaternary ammonium compound concentrations, and COVID-19-related behavioral shifts. Diversity and abundances of ARGs unique to the corresponding sewage

SUBMITTER: Maile-Moskowitz A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12484780 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature