Many antibiotic-resistant bacteria originate in Pakistan and the Indian subcontinent, making infections challenging to treat and driving up mortality
A recent study published in Nature Communications sheds light on the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance in the Pakistani population. The study, conducted by the University of Helsinki and the Cambridge-based Wellcome Sanger Institute, investigated the short-term effects of antibiotic use on the occurrence of resistant bacteria in individual patients.
Researchers collected rectal swab samples from around a thousand patients at a small hospital in the Lahore metropolitan area. Approximately half of the patients provided control samples after a one-month monitoring period. They also collected samples from healthy volunteers across Punjab, Pakistan’s most populated province.
Infectious diseases physician Tamim Khawaja spent four months in Pakistan collecting samples from locals, which were then cultivated and frozen on-site at a local laboratory before being delivered to Finland.
The DNA of the cultures was sequenced using a new deep sequencing method in cooperation with the Wellcome Sanger Institute. The analysis was conducted using new techniques developed by Tommi Mäklin, a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Helsinki. As a result, the research consortium was able to identify diversity in E. coli bacteria, both in individuals and at the level of the population.
The study showed that the prevalence of the E. coli bacterial strains found in Pakistan displayed significant variation, even in samples collected from a single individual. Additionally, the researchers observed that many bacterial strains common in Europe could not compete with local strains in Pakistan despite being found on both continents.