Antimicrobial Resistance and Its Environmental Risk

Dear Colleagues,

Antibiotic resistance, derived from resistance genes to synthetic and semi-synthetic antibiotics, spreads in the environment through multiple contamination routes, following different anthropic activities in which there is a high use of antibiotics. Resistance genes can reach the environment both through widespread sources of contamination (intensive agricultural areas, industrial districts, human activities distributed throughout the territory) and through single sources, such as intensive zootechnical plants, aquaculture, urban and hospital sewage, and commercial industries for the production of antibiotic substances.

The phenomenon is one of the main public health problems and has reached such proportions in recent years as to induce international and national institutions to raise the alarm and to promote initiatives aimed at its control. The latest European report on antibiotic resistance (ECDC, 2020) provided extremely worrying estimates: around 33,000 deaths a year are the direct consequence of resistant infections. To date, the commonly adopted strategy in human and veterinary medicine is the monitoring of antibiotic resistance in a selected group of bacterial species of clinical relevance. Although a "natural" resistance background is present in any bacterial community, the use–abuse of antibiotics in each sector (human, veterinary, agronomist) has determined the development and proliferation of specific resistance in bacterial communities exposed to the effects of human activities around the globe. The molecules not metabolized by the human body and the respective metabolites are excreted via urine and faeces, reaching urban wastewater and water purification plants, where they remain, even in minimal concentrations. Antibiotics and metabolites are then introduced into watercourses, lakes, or the sea through treated water, or into the soil through the use of purification sludge as fertilizer for fields.

The Special Issue that we propose has the purpose of gathering experiences in this area; new data on the subject will enrich those already in the scientific community. Studies carried out on classic and new environmental matrices involved in the spread of antibiotic resistance are encouraged.

Dr. Pasqualina Laganà
Dr. Maria Anna Coniglio
Guest Editors

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• antibiotic-resistance
• environmental matrices
• environmental surveillance
• prevention
• risk assessment
• advances in environmental diagnosis
• innovative monitoring methods
• new technologies