Analysis of Klebsiella spp in wastewater from a hospital drain and WWTP influent in South West England.. Klebsiella spp. in wastewater in South West England.

Many, if not all, Klebsiella species occupy a wide range of environmental and animal niches, and occasionally cause opportunistic infections that are resistant to multiple antibiotics. In particular, Klebsiella pneumoniae has gained notoriety as a major nosocomial pathogen, due principally to the rise in non-susceptibility to carbapenems and other beta-lactam antibiotics. Whilst it has been proposed that the urban water cycle facilitates transmission of pathogens between clinical settings and the environment, the level of risk specifically posed by resistant Klebsiella strains in hospital wastewater remains unclear. We used whole genome sequencing to compare the prevalence and distribution of Klebsiella species, and associated virulence and resistance determinants, in contemporaneous samples of hospital wastewater and influent to the wastewater treatment plant which processes wastewater from the hospital and the community. As we aimed to characterise representative samples of Klebsiella communities, we did not actively select for antibiotic resistance (other than for ampicillin), nor for any specific Klebsiella species.

克雷伯菌属（Klebsiella）的绝大多数乃至全部物种可栖息于广泛的环境与动物生态位中，偶尔会引发多重耐药的机会性感染。其中，肺炎克雷伯菌（Klebsiella pneumoniae）因对碳青霉烯类（carbapenems）及其他β-内酰胺类抗生素（beta-lactam antibiotics）的耐药性日益凸显，已作为主要的院内致病菌而声名狼藉。尽管已有研究提出城市水循环可促进病原体在临床环境与外界环境间传播，但医院污水中耐药克雷伯菌菌株所带来的特定风险水平仍不明确。本研究采用全基因组测序（whole genome sequencing）技术，对比分析同期采集的医院污水以及接收该医院与社区污水的污水处理厂进水样本中克雷伯菌属物种的流行率、分布特征，以及相关毒力决定因子与耐药决定因子。由于本研究旨在表征克雷伯菌群落的代表性样本，因此未主动筛选抗生素耐药性（氨苄青霉素（ampicillin）除外），也未针对特定克雷伯菌属物种进行选择性培养。