Shared bicycle microbial community: a potential antibiotic-resistant bacteria warehouse

Characterization of blaNDM-5-and blaCTX-M-199-Producing ST167 Escherichia coli Isolated from Shared Bikes

Shared bikes as a public transport provide convenience for short-distance travel. Whilst they also act as a potential vector for antimicrobial resistant (AR) bacteria and antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs). However, the understanding of the whole genome sequence of AR strains and ARGs-carrying plasmids collected from shared bikes is still lacking. Here, we used the HiSeq platform to sequence and analyze 24 Escherichia coli isolated from shared bikes around Metro Stations in Beijing. The isolates from shared bikes showed 14 STs and various genotypes. Two blaNDM-5 and blaCTX-M-199-producing ST167 E. coli have 16 resistance genes, four plasmid types and show >95% of similarities in core genomes compared with the ST167 E. coli strains from different origins. The blaNDM-5- or blaCTX-M-199-carrying plasmids sequencing by Nanopore were compared to plasmids with blaNDM-5- or blaCTX-M-199 originated from humans and animals. These two ST167 E. coli show high similarities in core genomes and the plasmid profiles with strains from hospital inpatients and farm animals. Our study indicated that ST167 E. coli is retained in diverse environments and carried with various plasmids. The analysis of strains such as ST167 can provide useful information for preventing or controlling the spread of AR bacteria between animals, humans and environments.

Characteristics and Outcomes of Shared Bicycle-Related Injuries from a Large Emergency Medical Centre in China, 2017–2021

Objective

The aim of this study is to investigate the characteristics and outcomes of shared bicycle-related injuries from a large emergency medical centre in China in five years from January 2017 to December 2021.

Methods

This study was conducted by reviewing the electronic medical record database of a large hospital in China for cases of shared bicycle-related injuries in five years from January 2017 to December 2021. The collected information included demographic data, injury characteristics, and outcomes. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to identify risk factors for fatal injury among victims.

Results

Most shared bicycle-related injuries occurred in male (60.50%), aged 18–35 (38.81%). Company employees (29.28%) were the majority of victims of shared bicycle-related injuries. Riding in a motor vehicle lane was the most common unsafe riding behaviour (26.52%). The lower limb was the most frequently injured body region (25.28%). Bruising (28.73%) was the most commonly diagnosed injury type. The fatality rate was 9.53%, 72.24% of victims recovered well without permanent disability, and 18.23% of victims had permanent disabilities. The length of hospital stay of most of the victims (67.54%) was less than 7 days, and the hospitalization cost of most of the victims (51.93%) was less than 20,000 Yuan. Riding in a motor vehicle lane, running red lights, and cycling against traffic flow are risk factors for fatal injury.

Conclusions

This study indicated that shared bicycle-related injuries make up a sizeable proportion of injuries presenting to the emergency department and with diverse injury characteristics and outcomes. The findings reflect that shared bicycle-related injury has become a public health problem. Therefore, it is necessary to establish injury prevention strategies for the safety of shared bicycle users.

The Bacterial Urban Resistome: Recent Advances

Cities that are densely populated are reservoirs of antibiotic resistant genes (ARGs). The overall presence of all resistance genes in a specific environment is defined as a resistome. Spatial proximity of surfaces and different hygienic conditions leads to the transfer of antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) within urban environments. Built environments, public transportation, green spaces, and citizens' behaviors all support persistence and transfer of antimicrobial resistances (AMR). Various unique aspects of urban settings that promote spread and resilience of ARGs/ARB are discussed: (i) the role of hospitals and recreational parks as reservoirs; (ii) private and public transportation as carriers of ARGs/ARB; (iii) the role of built environments as a hub for horizontal gene transfer even though they support lower microbial biodiversity than outdoor environments; (iv) the need to employ ecological and evolutionary concepts, such as modeling the fate of a specific ARG/ARB, to gain enhanced health risk assessments. Our understanding and our ability to control the rise of AMR in an urban setting is linked to our knowledge of the network connecting urban reservoirs and the environment.

Prevalence and Molecular Characterization of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococci Recovered from Public Shared Bicycles in China

Millions of public shared bicycles (PSBs) have been launched in China, and PSBs are a potential reservoir of antimicrobial-resistant staphylococci. However, no national data to elucidate the dissemination, antimicrobial resistance and genotypes of staphylococci has been recovered from public shared bicycles located in different cities in China. Antimicrobial susceptibility, SCCmec types and sequence types of staphylococci were determined. A total of 146 staphylococci were recovered in this study, and 87% staphylococcal isolates were resistant to at least one antibiotic. In total, 29 (20%) staphylococcal isolates harbored mecA gene, and SCCmec types were determined as follows: SCCmec type II (n = 1), IV(n = 3), V (n = 4), VI (n = 1), VIII (n = 2), A/1 (n = 6), A/5 (n = 2), C/1 (n = 2), C/2 (n = 1), C/3 (n = 1), (n = 5) and Pseudo (ψ)-SCCmec (n = 1). Sequence types of 16 Staphylococcus epidermidis were determined, including ST10, ST17, ST59, ST60, ST65, ST130, ST184, ST262, ST283, ST337, ST360, ST454, ST567, ST820, ST878 and ST934. PSBs are a reservoir of diverse antimicrobial-resistant staphylococci, and staphylococcal species differences were observed in isolates that were recovered from public shared bicycles in the south and north of China. PSBs are a source of antimicrobial resistance and genetic diverse staphylococci.

Is Peracetic Acid Fumigation Effective in Public Transportation?

The COVID-19 pandemic made more people aware of the danger of viruses and bacteria, which is why disinfection began to be used more and more often. Epidemiological safety must be ensured not only in gathering places, but also in home and work environments. It is especially challenging in public transportation, which is a perfect environment for the spread of infectious disease. Therefore, the aim of the study was the identification of bacteria in crowded places and the evaluation of the effect of fumigation with peracetic acid (PAA) in public transportation. Inactivation of microorganisms in buses and long-distance coaches was carried out using an automatic commercial fogging device filled with a solution of peracetic acid stabilized with acetic acid (AA) and hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂). Before and after disinfection, samples were taken for microbiological tests. The most prevalent bacteria were Micrococcus luteus and Bacillus licheniformis.Staphylococcus epidermidis was only present in buses, whereas Staphylococcus hominis and Exiguobacterium acetylicum were only present in coaches. Statistical analysis showed a significant reduction in the number of microorganisms in samples taken from different surfaces after disinfection in vehicles. The overall effectiveness of disinfection was 81.7% in buses and 66.5% in coaches. Dry fog fumigation with peracetic acid is an effective method of disinfecting public transport vehicles.

Surveillance and prevalence of antimicrobial resistant bacteria from public settings within urban built environments: Challenges and opportunities for hygiene and infection control

Antimicrobial resistant (AMR) bacteria present one of the biggest threats to public health; this must not be forgotten while global attention is focussed on the COVID-19 pandemic. Resistant bacteria have been demonstrated to be transmittable to humans in many different environments, including public settings in urban built environments where high-density human activity can be found, including public transport, sports arenas and schools. However, in comparison to healthcare settings and agriculture, there is very little surveillance of AMR in the built environment outside of healthcare settings and wastewater. In this review, we analyse the existing literature to aid our understanding of what surveillance has been conducted within different public settings and identify what this tells us about the prevalence of AMR. We highlight the challenges that have been reported; and make recommendations for future studies that will help to fill knowledge gaps present in the literature.