Norway study reveals how hospital sewage is spreading antimicrobial resistance

Researchers use genetic techniques to analyse sewage samples from hospitals in the Scandinavian country, demonstrating that effluent contains both known and previously unknown antibiotic-resistant genes.

Author: 

Manish P. Victor, Vera Radisic, Didrik H. Grevskott, Nachiket P. Marathe

Publication: 

Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety

Highlights

• •
  ESBL-producing E. coli and Klebsiella strains were detected in hospital effluent and STP effluent.
• •
  Assembled 1205 ARGs from the metagenomes, including 349 novel ARGs.
• •
  523 MAGs representing several novel taxa were assembled from the sewage samples.
• •
  Non-clinical taxa carried clinically important ARGs encoding resistance against last-resort antibiotics.
• •
  Same clone of K. michiganensis and MAGs with same identity were shared between hospital and treated STP effluents.

 

March 3 - 4, 2026 • Congress CenterBasel

Health and Healthcare Systems

Why we must act now on tackling antimicrobial resistance

Jan 20, 2026

Lora du Moulin

Lead, Global Health and Security, World Economic Forum

                                                                                                                          Image: National Cancer Institute/Unsplash