Species of Staphylococcus resistant to antibiotics in waters of mineralmedicinal spas of ecuador an approach from “one health”

Introduction: Mineralmedicinal waters have been used as medicines for centuries, however, there are still aspects that must be studied using new approaches such as “One Health” to ensure their health safety. Objective: know the diversity of Staphylococcus species and their resistance to antibiotics in the water of mineralmedicinal spas in Ecuador. Methodology: Water samples from 3 spas located in the provinces of Imbabura, Napo and Tungurahua, Ecuador, were analyzed. The isolation of Staphylococcus species was carried out by the deep seeding technique and by membrane filtration, using Baird Parker agar, mannitol salt agar and CompactDry plates for Staphylococcus as culture medium. The bacterial colonies were identified following the schemes of MacFaddin (2003) supplemented with the Microgen galleries. Antibiotic resistance was determined by the plate diffusion method of Kirby and Bauer (1966) and interpreted according to the CLSI (2022). Results: 66 strains of the genus Staphylococcus belonging to 11 species were identified. Antibiotic resistance profiles show different patterns for each of the species, although species multiresistant to the antibiotic’s gentamicin, oxacillin and penicillin prevail. Conclusions: The presence of various species of Staphylococcus is demonstrated in the water of mineralmedicinal spas in Ecuador with resistance and multi-resistance profiles to antibiotics, which shows the existence of resistomes and the need to use the “One Health” approach for the study of antibiotic resistance. Keywords: Staphylococcus; Mineralmedicinal water; Spas; Antibiotic resistance; Resistomas; One Health