Antimicrobial resistance has been and is one of the biggest health challenges of our time. No corner of the globe is exempt. Germs are clever. As often as we find a way to torpedo one, it just as quickly begins to find ways to defeat the assault. We find antibiotics to fend off infection and illnesses but their staying power over time is less than certain. Which makes it critical that we constantly seek to understand the causes, the best methods to keep antimicrobial/antibiotic resistance at bay. The study must be constant; the reactions strong. The stakes are high.

We link today to several eye-opening studies, research that helps us better understand this fight.

1. Antimicrobial resistance and air pollution. The environment impacts fungi and bacteria. It can manifest in bioaerosols, in water and as a fomite.

Assessment of antibiotic resistant coliforms from bioaerosol samples collected above a sewage-polluted river in La Paz, Bolivia

Antibiotic resistance associated with air quality and transferred by airborne particulate matter

Antibiotic-resistant Bacteria Found in Air Pollution

Emission and dispersal of antibiotic resistance genes through bioaerosols generated during the treatment of municipal sewage

Microbiological Air Quality and Drug Resistance in Airborne Bacteria Isolated from a Waste Sorting Plant Located in Poland―A Case Study

2. It is well known that drug resistant biology is in the air around livestock and farms.

Bioaerosol is an important transmission route of antibiotic resistance genes in pig farms

3. Pharmaceutical companies have been dumping waste in rivers as well as the public for years. Have you ever flushed pill down the drain?

First global look finds most rivers awash with antibiotics. Almost two-thirds of the rivers studied contained enough antibiotics to contribute to the growing problem of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Bacteria From the Multi-Contaminated Tinto River Estuary (SW, Spain) Show High Multi-Resistance to Antibiotics and Point to Paenibacillus spp. as Antibiotic-Resistance-Dissemination Players

Antibiotic and Disinfectant Resistant Bacteria in Rivers of the United States

4. As noted, the environment impacts resistance. Chemicals and drugs are always discussed but the natural environment also impacts resistance, for instance using drugs to help improve growth.

Drug-Resistant Bacteria Found in 4-Million-Year-Old Cave: Microbes from pristine areas can battle modern medicine, study says.

Antimicrobial resistance from environmental pollution among biggest emerging health threats, says UN Environment