Laço José, Martorell Sergi, Gallegos Maria Del Carmen, Gomila Margarita
Microbiology Laboratory (Biology Department), University of the Balearic Islands, Palma, Spain.
Microbiology Unit, Hospital Son Llàtzer, Palma, Spain.
Front Microbiol. 2025 Feb 14;15:1501170. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1501170. eCollection 2024.
Hospitals can carry high levels of bacterial diversity from all types of origins, such as human skin, outside environment and medical equipment. Sink drains in clinical settings are considered reservoirs for pathogenic bacteria and potential sources of hospital-acquired infections (HAI's) and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). Therefore, infection control measures are crucial to minimizing the risks associated with these reservoirs. Recent research has focused primarily on intensive care units (ICUs) and known pathogens, often employing metagenomic approaches that do not include bacterial isolation. This study aims to evaluate bacterial diversity using culturomics, extending the investigation beyond the ICU to identify antibiotic-resistant bacteria. A total of four samplings were conducted over 1 year (March 2022 to March 2023) in five different hospital wards [ICU, General Medicine (GM), Hematology (H), Short stay unit (UCE), and Microbiology laboratory (MS)]. All samples were cultured on selective and non-selective culture media, resulting in 1,058 isolates identified using MALDI-TOF MS, with a subset confirmed through 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Isolates retrieved from antibiotic supplemented agar were subjected to antibiotic susceptibility testing. The highest bacterial diversity, as measured by the Shannon index, was observed in the ICU and GM wards, posing significant risks to patients in these areas. While bacterial genera were largely similar across wards and sampling times, with and being the most prevalent, different species were detected in each sampling, indicating no loss of diversity. This suggests that these environments undergo dynamic changes over time, influenced by their surroundings. The results also indicate a relationship between human activity and drain usage and the presence of , the most commonly found species across most wards. Antibiotic susceptibility testing revealed that all tested isolates, except for one, were multi-resistant, including clinically relevant species, such as and . Hospital drains may serve as reservoirs for both known and emerging pathogens exhibiting high antibiotic resistance phenotypes. Their dynamic nature may provide insights into strategies for preventing the colonization of these environments by such species.
医院可能携带来自各种来源的高水平细菌多样性，如人体皮肤、外部环境和医疗设备。临床环境中的水槽排水口被认为是病原菌的储存库以及医院获得性感染（HAI）和抗生素抗性基因（ARG）的潜在来源。因此，感染控制措施对于将与这些储存库相关的风险降至最低至关重要。最近的研究主要集中在重症监护病房（ICU）和已知病原体上，通常采用不包括细菌分离的宏基因组学方法。本研究旨在使用培养组学评估细菌多样性，将调查范围扩展到ICU之外以鉴定耐抗生素细菌。在1年时间里（2022年3月至2023年3月），在五个不同的医院病房[ICU、普通内科（GM）、血液科（H）、短期住院部（UCE）和微生物实验室（MS）]共进行了四次采样。所有样本均在选择性和非选择性培养基上培养，使用基质辅助激光解吸电离飞行时间质谱（MALDI-TOF MS）鉴定出1058株分离菌，其中一部分通过16S rRNA基因测序得到确认。从添加抗生素的琼脂中回收的分离菌进行了抗生素敏感性测试。通过香农指数衡量，在ICU和GM病房观察到最高的细菌多样性，给这些区域的患者带来了重大风险。虽然各病房和采样时间的细菌属在很大程度上相似，其中[具体菌属1]和[具体菌属2]最为普遍，但每次采样中检测到不同的物种，表明多样性没有丧失。这表明这些环境随时间经历动态变化，受其周围环境影响。结果还表明人类活动和排水口使用与[最常见物种名称]的存在之间存在关联，[最常见物种名称]是大多数病房中最常发现的物种。抗生素敏感性测试显示，除一株外，所有测试分离菌均具有多重耐药性，包括临床相关物种，如[具体物种1]和[具体物种2]。医院排水口可能是已知和新出现的具有高抗生素抗性表型的病原体的储存库。它们的动态性质可能为预防这些物种在这些环境中定殖的策略提供见解。
