Making waves: The NORMAN antibiotic resistant bacteria and resistance genes database (NORMAN ARB&ARG)-An invitation for collaboration to tackle antibiotic resistance.

With the global concerns on antibiotic resistance (AR) as a public health issue, it is pivotal to have data exchange platforms for studies on antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in the environment. For this purpose, the NORMAN Association is hosting the NORMAN ARB&ARG database, which was developed within the European project ANSWER. The present article provides an overview on the database functionalities, the extraction and the contribution of data to the database.

The effect of ultrafiltration process on the fate of antibiotic-related microcontaminants, pathogenic microbes, and toxicity in urban wastewater.

Ultrafiltration (UF) was assessed at chemical, microbiological, genetical and toxicological level and in terms of removing specific antibiotic-related microcontaminants from urban wastewater. The UF capacity to remove various antibiotics (clarithromycin, erythromycin, ampicillin, ofloxacin, sulfamethoxazole, trimethoprim, and tetracycline; [A] = 100 μg L) was optimised with respect to the feed recirculation rate (25-50%) and feed/transmembrane pressure (1.5-3/1.

Reduction of antibiotic resistance determinants in urban wastewater by ozone: Emphasis on the impact of wastewater matrix towards the inactivation kinetics, toxicity and bacterial regrowth.

This study investigated the impact of bench-scale ozonation on the inactivation of total cultivable and antibiotic-resistant bacteria (faecal coliforms, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterococcus spp., and total heterotrophs), and the reduction of gene markers (16S rRNA and intl1) and antibiotic resistance genes (qacEΔ1, sul1, aadA1 and dfrA1) indigenously present in wastewater effluents treated by membrane bioreactor (MBR) or conventional activated sludge (CAS). The Chick-Watson model-predicted ozone exposure (CT) requirements, showed that higher CT values were needed for CAS- than MBR-treated effluents to achieve a 3-log reduction of each microbial group, i.

Sewage analysis as a tool for the COVID-19 pandemic response and management: the urgent need for optimised protocols for SARS-CoV-2 detection and quantification.

COVID-19 is an ongoing global pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). As of July 29 2020, more than 16,6 million cases have been reported in more than 188 countries/territories, leading to more than 659000 deaths. One of the main challenges facing health authorities has been testing for the virus on a sufficiently comprehensive scale.

A chemical, microbiological and (eco)toxicological scheme to understand the efficiency of UV-C/HO oxidation on antibiotic-related microcontaminants in treated urban wastewater.

An assessment comprising chemical, microbiological and (eco)toxicological parameters of antibiotic-related microcontaminants, during the application of UV-C/HO oxidation in secondary-treated urban wastewater, is presented. The process was investigated at bench scale under different oxidant doses (0-50 mg L) with regard to its capacity to degrade a mixture of antibiotics (i.e.