Scientists discover genes that cause antibiotic resistance

, there are perhaps more types of drug-resistant bacteria than previously thought. A previously unknown gene that causes antibiotic resistance has been discovered in an assessment of levels of multidring-resistant bacteria in London, Scientific Reports has published. Samples from the study came from public areas of London.
Hermine Mkrchytan of the University of East London and colleagues used swabs to sample microorganisms on public contact surfaces in east and west London to compare levels of antibiotic-resistant staphylococcus, which is known to cause human infections. The sampling surface includes general public areas and publicly available areas of the two hospitals, such as doorknobs, handrails and toilet seats at receptions, public toilets, corridors and elevators.
researchers identified a total of 600 staphylococcus isolated strains from the sample, of which 281 (46.83%) showed resistance to two or more antibiotics - the most resistant were penicillin (80.42%), clostridium spores (72.4%) and erythromycin (54.45%).
the proportion of multidring-resistant bacteria found in public areas of hospitals was higher than in non-hospital public areas, at 40.66 per cent and 49.5 per cent respectively, and east London (56.7 per cent) was higher than West London (49.96 per cent). The researchers say the findings may reflect higher antibiotic use in hospitals and the more densely populated East London area.
, they found a variety of genes in the sample that cause antibiotic resistance, some of which were previously undiscovered. Further analysis may help determine where the drug-resistant bacteria found in these areas originated in the first place. (
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