Resistance surveillance via analyses of hospital effluents
Sewage samples can be seen as pooled feces samples from a large number of individuals. As a complement to traditional patient-based screening, effluent-screening therefore has a potential to rapidly identify trends in the resistance situation to a low cost. Such information can provide input to changes in recommendations of antibiotics use as well as initiate measures to limit dissemination. In this project we will develop and evaluate methods (culturing, metagenomics, PCR, plasmid capture) to quantify selected resistant pathogens, resistance genes and resistance plasmids. Comparisons will be made with patient screening cultures and clinical isolates as well as local antibiotic use.
Research supported by regional ALF-funding, i.e. funding for clinical research from the Västra-Götalands regionen. The project is funded with 2.25 MSEK per year between 2018 and 2020.
The application group consisted of Joakim Larsson (Biomedicine), Christina Åhrén (Strama), Erik Kristiansson (Chalmers) and Carl-Fredrik Flach (Biomedicine). The collaboration with the local Strama-organization (Swedish Strategic Program against Antibiotic Resistance) at three major hospitals in the region (SU, SKAS, SÄS) is a very important for the project.