Isolation And Screening For MDR Bacteria, Isolated From Waste Disposal Sites Of Hospital And Pharmaceutical Industries Of Himachal Pradesh

Treated or untreated waste containing high concentrations of antimicrobial drugs, disinfectants, and other chemicals generally enter in the environment through hospitals and pharmaceutical manufacturing units. Such a polluted environmental conditions exert selective pressure on bacteria, promoting the development and spread of antibiotic resistant, multidrug resistant (MDR) and/or extreme multidrug resistant bacterial strains. Presence of pathogenic bacteria such as Pseudomonas spp. in these sources is indeed a major public health concern due to their extreme multidrug resistance. Therefore, the present study was conducted for the isolation, screening and molecular characterization of multidrug resistant bacterial strains from waste disposal sites of three hospitals and three pharmaceutical industries of Himachal Pradesh. Six soil samples were bought to microbiology laboratory, Career Point University, Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh and screened for the MDR isolates. Out of 29 isolates four isolates (PH6, HH3, AB5 and SS3) were found to be multidrug resistant and identified using biochemical and molecular characterization. Four MDR isolates were identified as Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PH6), Cellulosimicrobium cellulans (HH3), Bacillus cereus (AB5) and Pseudomonas mendocina (SS3). Isolate PH6 was found to be 100% resistant for all 15 antibiotics making it highly virulent strain. Interestingly Cellulosimicrobium cellulans (HH3) isolate was also found to be resistant to 8 out of 15 antibiotics used and might be an example of horizontal transfer of resistant gene from polluted environment. Most of MDR isolates were found resistant against Amoxycillin, Ampicillin, Co- Trimoxazole, Erythromycin and Nalidixic acid. These findings, emphasize the critical role of hospital and pharmaceutical effluents that play in the emergence and dissemination of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. By identifying resistant strains and understanding their antimicrobial patterns, this research paves the ways for mitigation strategies aimed at controlling the spread of antimicrobial resistance.