10th International Aerosol Conference
September 2 - September 7, 2018
America's Center Convention Complex
St. Louis, Missouri, USA

Abstract View


Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria (ARB) and Antibiotic Resistance Genes (ARGs) in Air Media

JING LI, Maosheng Yao, Peking University

     Abstract Number: 728
     Working Group: Bioaerosols

Abstract
The world is facing more deaths due to increasing antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections and the shortage of new highly effective antibiotics, however the air media as its important transmission route has not been adequately studied. Based on the latest literature acquired in this work, we have discussed the state-of-the-art research progress of the concentration, distribution and spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in air media, and also analyzed some future prevention and control measures. We also investigated to profile relative abundances (normalized by 16S rRNA gene) of 39 ARG subtypes resistant to 7 common classes of antibiotics including quinolones, β-lactams, macrolides, tetracyclines, sulfonamides, aminoglycosides and vancomycins in ambient particulate matter (PM) across 19 global cities. Data from the literature show that the large use of antibiotics in the medical settings and animal husbandry places has resulted in higher abundances of ARB and ARGs in the relevant and surrounding atmosphere than in urban and general indoor air environments. A number of studies have already demonstrated that ARGs can be spread by adhering to airborne particles, and researchers have also found that air media contain more abundant ARGs than other environmental media such as soil, water and sediment. It was suggested in this review that strengthening the monitoring, study on spreading factors and biological toxicity, and also research and development on pathogen accurate diagnosis and new green antibiotic are expected to help effectively monitor, prevent and control of the impacts of airborne resistant bacteria and resistance genes on both human and ecologies.