Antibiotic resistance in Acinetobacter spp. isolated from sewers receiving waste effluent from a hospital and a pharmaceutical plant.

The possible increase of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in sewage associated with the discharge of wastewater from a hospital and a pharmaceutical plant was investigated by using Acinetobacter species as environmental bacterial indicators. The level of susceptibility to six antimicrobial agents was determined in 385 Acinetobacter strains isolated from samples collected upstream and downstream from the discharge points of the hospital and the pharmaceutical plant. Results indicated that while the hospital waste effluent affected only the prevalence of oxytetracycline resistance, the discharge of wastewater from the pharmaceutical plant was associated with an increase in the prevalence of both single- and multiple-antibiotic resistance among Acinetobacter species in the sewers.