Raising awareness of antimicrobial resistance: comment on 'Reducing expectations for antibiotics in primary care: a randomised experiment to test the response to fear based messages about antimicrobial resistance'

Emerging Issues on Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Colonizing Plastic Waste in Aquatic Ecosystems

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) adhesion onto plastic substrates is a potential threat to environmental and human health. This current research investigates the prevalence of two relevant human pathogens, Staphylococcus spp. and Klebsiella spp., and their sophisticated equipment of antibiotic-resistant genes (ARGs), retrieved from plastic substrates submerged into an inland water body. The results of microbiological analysis on selective and chromogenic media revealed the presence of colonies with distinctive phenotypes, which were identified using biochemical and molecular methods. 16S rDNA sequencing and BLAST analysis confirmed the presence of Klebsiella spp., while in the case of Staphylococcus spp., 63.6% of strains were found to be members of Lysinibacillus spp., and the remaining 36.3% were identified as Exiguobacterium acetylicum. The Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion assay was performed to test the susceptibility of the isolates to nine commercially available antibiotics, while the genotypic resistant profile was determined for two genes of class 1 integrons and eighteen ARGs belonging to different classes of antibiotics. All isolated bacteria displayed a high prevalence of resistance against all tested antibiotics. These findings provide insights into the emerging risks linked to colonization by potential human opportunistic pathogens on plastic waste commonly found in aquatic ecosystems.

Impact of the World Antimicrobial Awareness Week on public interest between 2015 and 2020: A Google Trends analysis

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate the impact of the World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (WAAW) on public awareness of antimicrobial resistance using Google Trends analysis.

METHODS

The impact of WAAW on public awareness of 'antimicrobial resistance' (AMR), 'antibacterial', and 'antibiotics' in Japan, the UK, the United States, and worldwide from 2015 to 2020 was analyzed, using the relative search volume (RSV) of Google Trends as a surrogate. A joinpoint regression analysis was performed to identify a statistically significant time point of a change in trend.

RESULTS

No joinpoints around WAAW were identified in Japan, the United Kingdom, or the United States from 2015 to 2020 with RSVs of 'AMR', whereas increasing RSVs were noted worldwide in 2017 and 2020. Further, there were decreasing RSVs of 'antibiotics' in the first half of 2020, which could be due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The study results suggest that WAAW did little to improve public awareness of AMR in the selected countries despite its contribution worldwide.

CONCLUSIONS

This study implies that we need to develop a more effective method to improve public awareness to fight against AMR.

Improved penicillin susceptibility of Streptococcus pneumoniae and increased penicillin consumption in Japan, 2013-18

OBJECTIVES

To examine the association between penicillin susceptibility of Streptococcus pneumoniae and penicillin consumption in Japan.

METHODS

We used Japan Nosocomial Infection Surveillance data on the susceptibility of S. pneumoniae and sales data obtained from IQVIA Services Japan K.K. for penicillin consumption. We analysed both sets of data by decomposing them into seasonality and chronological trend components. The cross-correlation function was checked using Spearman's rank correlation coefficient to examine the correlation between susceptibility and consumption.

RESULTS

After adjusting for seasonality, the susceptibility of S. pneumoniae to penicillins gradually improved (55.7% in 2013 and 60.6% in 2018, respectively) and penicillin consumption increased during the same period (0.76 defined daily doses per 1,000 inhabitants per day [DID] in 2013, and 0.89 DID in 2018). The results showed positive cross-correlation (coefficient 0.801, p-value < 0.001). In contrast, cephalosporin consumption decreased (3.91 DID in 2013 and 3.19 DID in 2018) and showed negative cross-correlation with susceptibility of S. pneumoniae to penicillins (coefficient -0.981, p-value < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

The rates of penicillin-susceptible S. pneumoniae isolates did not negatively correlate with penicillin consumption at the population level. Increased penicillin consumption might not impair the penicillin susceptibility of S. pneumoniae.