Antibiotic-resistant bacteria found in river water in UK

Strains of highly antibiotic-resistant bacteria were found in a river near Coventry. The drug-resistant bugs were detected in samples taken by specialists from Warwick University near the Finham sewage treatment works.

The resistant bacteria, which is carried in faecal matter, were strains of E.coli that produce extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs) - enzymes that can destroy many antibiotics including all penicillins.

ESBL infections are particularly dangerous because treatment options are limited and drugs need to be given by injection in serious cases.

Study leader Professor Elizabeth Wellington, a lecturer in Environmental Microbiology at Warwick University, along with colleagues from Birmingham universities and the Health Protection Agency (now Public Health England), analysed sediment samples from upstream and downstream.

They found bacteria resistant to important antibiotics used to treat a range of problems, including meningitis, septicaemia, and so-called hospital-acquired infections.

The researchers say stricter regulations and higher levels of treatment are needed to halt the rise in antibiotic resistance in the environment.

Professor Neil Woodford, head of Public Health England’s Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare Associated Infections Reference Unit, said the extent of the health risk caused by ESBL-positive bacteria was unclear. This is not the first time that antibiotic-resistant bacteria have been found in river water, he added.

‘Just having had skin contact with the river water is not sufficient to cause illness. For it to become a problem would require a particular chain of events to occur and the likelihood of these all happening needs to be borne in mind. Our advice is that if anyone does become ill after swimming in rivers or streams then they should always advise their GP of their recent activities,’ he said.

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