Antibiotic resistance increases with local temperature
Bacteria that cause infections in humans can develop or acquire resistance to antibiotics commonly used against them 1 , 2 . Antimicrobial resistance (in bacteria and other microbes) causes significant morbidity worldwide, and some estimates indicate the attributable mortality could reach up to 10 m...
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Published in | Nature climate change Vol. 8; no. 6; pp. 510 - 514 |
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Main Authors | , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
London
Nature Publishing Group UK
01.06.2018
Nature Publishing Group |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Bacteria that cause infections in humans can develop or acquire resistance to antibiotics commonly used against them
1
,
2
. Antimicrobial resistance (in bacteria and other microbes) causes significant morbidity worldwide, and some estimates indicate the attributable mortality could reach up to 10 million by 2050
2
–
4
. Antibiotic resistance in bacteria is believed to develop largely under the selective pressure of antibiotic use; however, other factors may contribute to population level increases in antibiotic resistance
1
,
2
. We explored the role of climate (temperature) and additional factors on the distribution of antibiotic resistance across the United States, and here we show that increasing local temperature as well as population density are associated with increasing antibiotic resistance (percent resistant) in common pathogens. We found that an increase in temperature of 10 °C across regions was associated with an increases in antibiotic resistance of 4.2%, 2.2%, and 2.7% for the common pathogens
Escherichia coli
,
Klebsiella pneumoniae
and
Staphylococcus aureus
. The associations between temperature and antibiotic resistance in this ecological study are consistent across most classes of antibiotics and pathogens and may be strengthening over time. These findings suggest that current forecasts of the burden of antibiotic resistance could be significant underestimates in the face of a growing population and climate change
4
.
Based on an analysis of the distribution of antibiotic resistance across the United States, research shows that increasing local temperatures as well as population density across regions are associated with increasing antibiotic resistance in common bacterial pathogens. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 DM, SM, and MS contributed to the data-analysis. All authors (DM, SM, DF, MS, JB) contributed to development of the manuscript, discussion, and preparation of final versions. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript. All authors have no relevant competing risks to declare. Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to DM (derek.macfadden@mail.harvard.edu). Author Contributions Author Information |
ISSN: | 1758-678X 1758-6798 |
DOI: | 10.1038/s41558-018-0161-6 |