USC researchers find antibiotic-resistant bacteria growing in LA's wastewater
Researchers huddled in a University of Southern California lab are using the stuff we flush down the toilet to predict the future of public health in Los Angeles.
Dr. Adam Smith, an associate professor at the Department of Environmental Engineering, and his team of scientists have been monitoring wastewater during the pandemic to track COVID-19. Recently, the team found bacteria resistant to a last-resort antibiotic named colistin. It's the first time researchers found the germ in L.A. County's wastewater.
The drug is used for multidrug-resistant infections and is a "crucial" last-resort option because of its side effects which include weakness of extremities, bloody urine, and skin irritation.
"Antibiotic resistance is a growing threat and is circulating around the world," said Smith.
Smith said the spread of antibiotic resistance is the result of antibiotics being over-prescribed for both humans and for livestock, especially when it comes to animals being raised in tight spaces.
"Lessening the over-prescription," said Smith. "Only prescribing antibiotics when they're actually needed."
The samples were gathered at the Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant in Playa Del Rey and the Joint Water Pollution Control Plant in Carson.
The water was collected before it's been treated.
"This is totally different from what comes out of the backend of a treatment plant where over 12 hours, we convert sewage into essentially drinking water quality and that water we reduced the vast majority of any bacteria and viruses," said Bryan Langpap, a manager at the L.A. County Sanitation Districts.
Smith and his team are currently working on wastewater surveillance at USC to monitor COVID-19, influenza and other diseases.He believes wastewater can be used as early indicators of a community's health.
"So if we see it increasing in wastewater now, we could forecast there could be, will, an increase in clinical cases for colistin cases in the future in L.A.," said Smith.