Blackburg, Va. -- Antibiotics can pass through the body without metabolizing and enter the environment, causing concerns of heightened antibiotic resistance, a study says.
Amy Pruden, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at Virginia Tech, says the antibiotics in the environment become "potential sources of antibiotic resistance genes," ScienceDaily.com reported Monday.
"The presence of antibiotics, even at sub-inhibitory concentrations, can stimulate bacterial metabolism and thus contribute to the selection and maintenance of antibiotic resistance genes," Pruden says. "Once they are present in rivers, antibiotic resistance genes are capable of being transferred among bacteria, including pathogens, through horizontal gene transfer."
