A new study links arsenic-contaminated water to antibiotic resistance in children.
The resistance is higher in areas where arsenic contamination in drinking water is more evident compared to regions with less arsenic contamination, according to the study.
Antibiotic resistance is one of the leading causes of death and hospitalisation worldwide. While the significant drivers of antibiotic resistance are the overuse and misuse of antibiotics, natural elements such as heavy metals could also promote antibiotic resistance.
The study was conducted by the icddr,b scientists and partners which was published in peer-reviewed journal PLOS Pathogens.
The study finds a higher prevalence of antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli in both water and child stool in areas with high arsenic concentrations in water in rural Bangladesh.
Escherichia coli (e-coli) is a bacteria that is commonly found in the lower intestine of warm-blooded organisms and often causes diarrhoea.
Researchers collected water and stool samples from mothers and children of 100 families (50 in each such subdistricts) in two rural subdistricts - Hajiganj and Matlab of Chandpur District, according to a media statement of icddr,b on Thursday.
Families in Hajiganj subdistrict get their drinking water from shallow tube wells, which are found to have a high concentration of arsenic. In contrast, families in Matlab collect their drinking water from arsenic-free deep tube wells, it added.
The researchers feared that a positive association between arsenic exposure and antibiotic resistance among children in arsenic-affected areas in Bangladesh is an important public health concern. That warrants redoubling efforts to reduce arsenic exposure, according to icddr,b.
The study’s lead researcher, Mohammad Aminul Islam, Adjunct Scientist at icddr,b and Assistant Professor at the Washington State University, USA said, "Heavy metals such as arsenic are more stable than antibiotics in the environment."
"They continue to exert selective pressure on bacteria over a more extended period driving the evolution and expansion of antimicrobial resistance in the community," he added.
It is likely that antibiotic-resistant organisms may colonise humans and animals exposed to heavy metals even without being exposed to antibiotics, he continued.
"Our current research findings suggest that it is time to look into the impact of other heavy metals such as lead, mercury, and iron, which have a high burden in various environments across the country," said Mohammed Badrul Amin, associate scientist at ICDD-B.
Prabhat Talukdar, a postdoctoral researcher in Dr Islam’s lab who shared co-first authorship with Mohammed Badrul Amin on the publication, said, "We found that arsenic-resistant E. coli are more likely to be resistant to a particular group of antibiotics, especially the third-generation cephalosporins, which are commonly used for the treatment of bacterial infections.
"Our current study is investigating the mechanisms of co-resistance to arsenic and antibiotics among these isolates," Talukdar added.
