New study: Increasing local temperatures are associated with higher levels of antibiotic resistance in E. coli, K. pneumoniae, and Staph. aureus.
May 24th, 2018“…..The team calculated that an increase in the average minimum temperature of 10°C (18°F) across regions was associated with an increase in antibiotic resistance of 4.2% for E coli, 2.2% for K pneumoniae, and 2.7% for S aureus. In addition, changes in minimum temperature were associated with larger increases in resistance in each year analyzed.
“The reason we included other predictors, like antibiotic use and population density, is because those are well-known in the literature to be drivers of antibiotic resistance,” McGough said. “What was really strong about this study is that, after controlling for those factors, we still find that temperature is a strong predictor of antibiotic resistance.”
The strongest associations between temperature and resistance was found in fluoroquinolones and beta-lactam antibiotics, suggesting that warmer temperatures may affect the way bacteria respond to certain drug mechanisms……”
Antibiotic resistance increases with local temperature
- doi:10.1038/s41558-018-0161-6