Antibiotic resistance in areas around Kampala pharmaceutical industries

Abstract

Discharge of treated and untreated wastewaters containing antibiotics by pharmaceutical industries into rivers and streams can lead to development of antibiotic resistance among bacterial populations. This research aimed at detecting antimicrobial resistance in bacteria from areas around pharmaceutical industries in Uganda. Soil samples were collected from streams around Kampala Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (KPI), ABACUS Parenteral Drugs Limited (APDL), and Rene Industries Ltd for this investigation. Antibiotic resistance bacteria were detected from these sols using total plate counts on nutrient agar containing respective antibiotics produced by an industry. Resistance was detected in samples from all collection sites to all the antibiotics used. Around Rene Industries, an average of 1013.85x104 CFUs were detected while using ampicillin and 4062.8x104 CFUs using erythromycin. An average of 11.05x104 CFUs using erythromycin and 1.3x104 CFUs using ciprofloxacin for Kampala Pharmaceutical Industries. An average of 9.05x104 CFUs using chloramphenicol and 0.35x104 CFUs using ciprofloxacin for Abacus Parenteral Drugs Limited. The study shows that pharmaceutical industries have contributed to the increasing antibiotic resistance by releasing their wastes into the environment without treatment or with inadequate treatment. The policy makers should enforce strict rules on waste water treatment in the different pharmaceutical industries in Uganda