Comparative analysis of antimicrobial resistance pattern and pathogenic characterization of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from hospital effluents wastewater and its adjacent communities in Dhaka city

Abstract

Staphylococcus aureus is Gram-positive cocci, facultatively aerobic that has the intrinsic ability to ferment carbohydrates and forms clusters. Staphylococcus aureus is responsible for numerous pyogenic infections, food poisoning, and toxic shock syndrome, and it can produce a wide range of virulence factors. S. aureus strains that are resistant to virtually all antibiotics, with the exception of Vancomycin, have emerged in recent years. Hospital wastewater has a direct influential role in the spread of infectious diseases in healthcare settings, community settings, hospital employees, and the environment. HWW is a significant source of ARGs and ARB, and its infectious and toxic characteristics make it extremely hazardous. A total of 70 samples were collected from our study sampling sites in several phases from the period of June 2022 to December 2022. From the 70 samples, 21 PCR-confirmed staphylococcus aureus isolates were obtained which was 30% of the sample size. It was explored that 100% of the isolates from hospital effluents were significantly resistant to 9 antibiotics (Amoxicillin, Levofloxacin, Cloxacillin, Ceftriaxone, Ceftazidime, Erythromycin, Cefuroxime, Oxacillin, and Vancomycin), whereas 100% of the isolates from communities tap water showed resistance to 4 antibiotics (Amoxicillin, Cloxacillin, Erythromycin, and Oxacillin). The result of our study showed the emergence of ARGs in the strains of Staphylococcus aureus in the community setting has increased significantly. These ARBs and ARGs were hypothesized to be transmitted from the hospital settings by the hospital’s untreated effluents.