Dissertation•
Evaluation of microbiological and physico–chemical quality of water from aquifers in the North West Province, South Africa
01 Jan 2013-
About: The article was published on 2013-01-01 and is currently open access. It has received 2 citations till now.
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TL;DR: Joint collaboration across the world with international bodies is needed to assist the developing countries to implement good surveillance of antibiotic use and antibiotic resistance, and strengthening of regulations that direct antibiotic manufacture, distribution, dispensing, and prescription is needed, hence fostering antibiotic stewardship.
Abstract: Due to the increased demand of animal protein in developing countries, intensive farming is instigated, which results in antibiotic residues in animal-derived products, and eventually, antibiotic resistance. Antibiotic resistance is of great public health concern because the antibiotic-resistant bacteria associated with the animals may be pathogenic to humans, easily transmitted to humans via food chains, and widely disseminated in the environment via animal wastes. These may cause complicated, untreatable, and prolonged infections in humans, leading to higher healthcare cost and sometimes death. In the said countries, antibiotic resistance is so complex and difficult, due to irrational use of antibiotics both in the clinical and agriculture settings, low socioeconomic status, poor sanitation and hygienic status, as well as that zoonotic bacterial pathogens are not regularly cultured, and their resistance to commonly used antibiotics are scarcely investigated (poor surveillance systems). The challenges that follow are of local, national, regional, and international dimensions, as there are no geographic boundaries to impede the spread of antibiotic resistance. In addition, the information assembled in this study through a thorough review of published findings, emphasized the presence of antibiotics in animal-derived products and the phenomenon of multidrug resistance in environmental samples. This therefore calls for strengthening of regulations that direct antibiotic manufacture, distribution, dispensing, and prescription, hence fostering antibiotic stewardship. Joint collaboration across the world with international bodies is needed to assist the developing countries to implement good surveillance of antibiotic use and antibiotic resistance.
670 citations
Cites background from "Evaluation of microbiological and p..."
...Also, in the North West province of South Africa, a study conducted by Carsten [260] revealed a very poor physicochemical and microbiological quality of water samples obtained from boreholes in the Mooi River and Harts River catchment areas....
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TL;DR: The funeral industry harbours antibiotic resistance to multiple common and last-resort antibiotics, hence constitutes the ‘thanato-resistome’ and a framework for risk assessment and mitigation is proposed.
30 citations
Cites background from "Evaluation of microbiological and p..."
...Accordingly, antibiotic resistant bacteria and their resistance genes have been reported in environmental media from cemeteries, and a number of studies conducted in cemeteries in South Africa are quite instructive in this regard (Carstens, 2012; Carstens et al., 2014; Abia et al., 2018, 2019)....
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...Overall, existing evidence demonstrates that antimicrobial resistance occurs in environmental media impacted by cemeteries (Carstens, 2012; Carstens et al., 2014; Abia et al., 2018, 2019), suggesting that virulent antimicrobial resistant pathogens may lurk in the sub-surface in cemeteries following…...
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...Recently, an increasing body of evidence has reported the occurrence of pharmaceuticals, antibiotic resistant bacteria and their resistance genes in environmental media from cemeteries (Carstens, 2012; Carstens et al., 2014; Fiedler et al., 2018; Abia et al., 2018, 2019)....
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...Pharmaceuticals, antibiotics and inorganic contaminants have been detected in environmental media from cemeteries, including surface water and groundwater (Carstens, 2012; Carstens et al., 2014; Paíga and Delerue-Matos, 2016; Fiedler et al., 2018; Abia et al., 2018, 2019)....
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...Based on the available evidence on cemeteries (Abia et al., 2018, 2019; Carstens, 2012; Carstens et al., 2014) and thanatopraxy care facilities (Zammit et al., 2011) the following antibiotic resistance genes may occur, among others: (1) Methicillin resistance (mec) genes (e.g., mecA), (2)…...
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References
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TL;DR: Recommendations of the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards continue to be based on this publication; the “Kirby-Bauer” method is, among the many disk methods used in other countries, still the one that has been researched most thoroughly and updated continuously.
Abstract: In the words of the authors, the paper by A. W. Bauer et al., from the University of Washington in Seattle, on a standardized single-disk method for antibiotic susceptibility testing “. . . consolidate(s) and update(s) previous descriptions of the method and provide(s) a concise outline for its performance and interpretation.” Clinical microbiologists were relieved that finally a disk diffusion method had been standardized, could be used with ease, and provided reliable results as compared with minimum inhibitory concentration tests. The pivotal role of Hans Ericsson’s theoretical and practical studies (H. Ericsson and G. Svartz-Malmberg, Antibiot. Chemother. 6:41–74, 1959), as well as earlier reports by some of the authors of the publications cited, must be mentioned as a matter of fairness. Most of the recommendations given are still valid today even though some of the antimicrobial agents are obsolete, new ones have been added, some zone sizes had to be modified, and new media were designed for Haemophilus influenzae and Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Recommendations of the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards continue to be based on this publication; the “Kirby-Bauer” method is, among the many disk methods used in other countries, still the one that has been researched most thoroughly and updated continuously. ALEXANDER VON GRAEVENITZ
16,916 citations
TL;DR: Many members of the Academy of Pediatrics seem to be generally unaware of the fact that the Academy has participated for ten years in a very interesting and valuable organization, the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS).
Abstract: Many members of the Academy of Pediatrics seem to be generally unaware of the fact that your Academy has participated for ten years in a very interesting and valuable organization, the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS). The NCCLS has only three kinds of members: professional organizations, industrial (clinical laboratory instruments and supplies), and government agencies (CDC, FDA, NBS, NIH). Each member is represented by one delegate and one alternate. At present there are close to 110 members, of which 20 are professional societies.
13,750 citations
TL;DR: Analysis of the genomic DNA from a bacterial biofilm grown under aerobic conditions suggests that sulfate-reducing bacteria, despite their anaerobicity, were present in this environment.
Abstract: We describe a new molecular approach to analyzing the genetic diversity of complex microbial populations. This technique is based on the separation of polymerase chain reaction-amplified fragments of genes coding for 16S rRNA, all the same length, by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). DGGE analysis of different microbial communities demonstrated the presence of up to 10 distinguishable bands in the separation pattern, which were most likely derived from as many different species constituting these populations, and thereby generated a DGGE profile of the populations. We showed that it is possible to identify constituents which represent only 1% of the total population. With an oligonucleotide probe specific for the V3 region of 16S rRNA of sulfate-reducing bacteria, particular DNA fragments from some of the microbial populations could be identified by hybridization analysis. Analysis of the genomic DNA from a bacterial biofilm grown under aerobic conditions suggests that sulfate-reducing bacteria, despite their anaerobicity, were present in this environment. The results we obtained demonstrate that this technique will contribute to our understanding of the genetic diversity of uncharacterized microbial populations.
11,380 citations
"Evaluation of microbiological and p..." refers methods in this paper
...3 Molecular based methods The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method is used to selectively amplify specific target genes of interest from small amounts of genetic material (Muyzer et al., 1993; Romprè et al., 2002; Willey et al., 2011)....
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TL;DR: Amorphous metal alloys are employed in acoustic devices dependent upon the properties of low acoustic velocity and low attenuation, such as wire, strip and bulk delay lines.
Abstract: Because a natural entity “species” cannot be recognized as a group of strains that is genetically well separated from its phylogenetic neighbors, a pragmatic approach was taken to define a species by a polyphasic approach (L. G. Wayne, D. J. Brenner, R. R. Colwell, P. A. D. Grimont, O. Kandler, M. I. Krichevsky, L. H. Moore, W. E. C. Moore, R. G. E. Murray, E. Stackebrandt, M. P. Starr, and H. G. Truper, Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. 37:463-464, 1987), in which a DNA reassociation value of about 70% plays a dominant role. With the establishment of rapid sequence analysis of 16S rRNA and the recognition of its potential to determine the phylogenetic position of any prokaryotic organism, the role of 16S rRNA similarities in the present species definition in bacteriology needs to be clarified. Comparative studies clearly reveal the limitations of the sequence analysis of this conserved gene and gene product in the determination of relationships at the strain level for which DNA-DNA reassociation experiments still constitute the superior method. Since today the primary structure of 16S rRNA is easier to determine than hybridization between DNA strands, the strength of the sequence analysis is to recognize the level at which DNA pairing studies need to be performed, which certainly applies to similarities of 97% and higher.
6,188 citations
TL;DR: A protocol is described for rapidly generating large blocks of 16S rRNA sequence data without isolation of the 16 S rRNA or cloning of its gene, and its phylogenetic usefulness is evaluated by examination of several 17S rRNAs whose gene sequences are known.
Abstract: Although the applicability of small subunit ribosomal RNA (16S rRNA) sequences for bacterial classification is now well accepted, the general use of these molecules has been hindered by the technical difficulty of obtaining their sequences. A protocol is described for rapidly generating large blocks of 16S rRNA sequence data without isolation of the 16S rRNA or cloning of its gene. The 16S rRNA in bulk cellular RNA preparations is selectively targeted for dideoxynucleotide-terminated sequencing by using reverse transcriptase and synthetic oligodeoxynucleotide primers complementary to universally conserved 16S rRNA sequences. Three particularly useful priming sites, which provide access to the three major 16S rRNA structural domains, routinely yield 800-1000 nucleotides of 16S rRNA sequence. The method is evaluated with respect to accuracy, sensitivity to modified nucleotides in the template RNA, and phylogenetic usefulness, by examination of several 16S rRNAs whose gene sequences are known. The relative simplicity of this approach should facilitate a rapid expansion of the 16S rRNA sequence collection available for phylogenetic analyses.
3,006 citations