THE rise of antibiotic-resistant superbugs such as MRSA and E.coli could be being fuelled by the amount of antibiotics released into the environment, a new study has found.
Researchers at the University of Stirling are warning that increasing levels of "antibiotic pollution" are becoming a public health concern.
Bacteria that would once have succumbed to antibiotics are evolving and gaining resistance through increased contact, in some cases through material released as waste.
Antibiotics are used extensively in human and veterinary medicine, as well as in aquaculture, to prevent or treat microbial infections.
They can enter the environment via waste water treatment plant effluents, hospital and processing plant effluents, agricultural waste, and leakage from landfills.
University of Stirling scientist Alfredo Tello, who led the team, said: "This study looks at the link between antibiotic pollution and antibiotic resistance from a new perspective.
"Antibiotics are being overused and we're seeing the emergence of resistance to infections that we used to be able to treat.
"Their overuse has caused a constant 'selective pressure', whereby antibiotic-resistant bacteria have increased."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article