Untreated HWWs Emerged as Hotpots for ARGs.

Hospital wastewaters (HWWs) are reported to be hotspots for antibiotics and antibiotic-resistant bacteria. However, limited information involves the impact of these effluents on dissemination of antibiotic-resistance genes (ARGs). In this study, therefore, seasonally collected HWWs were monitored for overall bacterial load and seven ARGs aadA, tetA, cmlA, sul1, qnrS, ermB and bla by using quantitative polymerase chain reaction method. Overall bacterial 16S rRNA copy number was found to be the lowest in winter with 10copy number/mL, while the highest copy number, with 10copy number/mL, was observed in both summer and spring. All hospitals tested displayed similar seasonal ARG copy number profile of aadA > tetA > cmlA ≈ sul1 > ermB ≈ qnrS > bla . The results indicated that untreated HWWs were hotspots for ARGs and required attention before discharging into public sewer.