Impact of easing COVID-19 restrictions on antibiotic usage in Eastern China using wastewater-based epidemiology

IF 14.7 1区综合性期刊 Q1 MULTIDISCIPLINARY SCIENCES

Nature Communications Pub Date : 2024-11-23 DOI:10.1038/s41467-024-54498-2

Jinxin Zang, Lufang Jiang, Yingying Wang, Yue Chen, Chaowei Fu, Barbara Kasprzyk-Hordern, Na Wang, Qingwu Jiang, Helen Lambert

{"title":"Impact of easing COVID-19 restrictions on antibiotic usage in Eastern China using wastewater-based epidemiology","authors":"Jinxin Zang, Lufang Jiang, Yingying Wang, Yue Chen, Chaowei Fu, Barbara Kasprzyk-Hordern, Na Wang, Qingwu Jiang, Helen Lambert","doi":"10.1038/s41467-024-54498-2","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) emerged in December 2019, prompting the implementation of a “zero-COVID” policy in Mainland China. The easing of this policy in December 2022 led to a surge in COVID cases, which was believed to significantly increase antibiotic usage, potentially due to antibiotic misuse or increased coinfections. Our study aimed to compare antibiotic consumption and patterns before and after this policy adjustment. We utilised wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) to analyse antibiotic levels in samples collected from five wastewater treatment plants in Eastern China during January and February of 2021 and 2023. 27 antibiotics were quantified using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) and analysed via WBE, with the resulting estimates compared with catchment-specific prescription data. 23 antibiotics were detected in wastewater samples, with a substantial increase in usage in 2023 (ranging from 531% to 3734%), consistent with prescription data. Here, we show a significant rise in antibiotic consumption during the COVID-19 surge and this underscores the need for further investigation into the impacts of inappropriate antibiotic use in China.</p>","PeriodicalId":19066,"journal":{"name":"Nature Communications","volume":"30 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":14.7000,"publicationDate":"2024-11-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Nature Communications","FirstCategoryId":"103","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-54498-2","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"MULTIDISCIPLINARY SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) emerged in December 2019, prompting the implementation of a “zero-COVID” policy in Mainland China. The easing of this policy in December 2022 led to a surge in COVID cases, which was believed to significantly increase antibiotic usage, potentially due to antibiotic misuse or increased coinfections. Our study aimed to compare antibiotic consumption and patterns before and after this policy adjustment. We utilised wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) to analyse antibiotic levels in samples collected from five wastewater treatment plants in Eastern China during January and February of 2021 and 2023. 27 antibiotics were quantified using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) and analysed via WBE, with the resulting estimates compared with catchment-specific prescription data. 23 antibiotics were detected in wastewater samples, with a substantial increase in usage in 2023 (ranging from 531% to 3734%), consistent with prescription data. Here, we show a significant rise in antibiotic consumption during the COVID-19 surge and this underscores the need for further investigation into the impacts of inappropriate antibiotic use in China.

Abstract Image

查看原文本刊更多论文

利用基于废水的流行病学研究放宽 COVID-19 限制对华东地区抗生素使用的影响

2019年12月出现了冠状病毒病（COVID-19），促使中国大陆实施了 "零COVID "政策。2022年12月该政策的放宽导致COVID病例激增，这被认为会大幅增加抗生素的使用量，其原因可能是抗生素滥用或合并感染增加。我们的研究旨在比较政策调整前后的抗生素使用情况和模式。我们利用污水流行病学（WBE）分析了 2021 年和 2023 年 1 月和 2 月期间从华东地区五家污水处理厂采集的样本中的抗生素水平。采用超高效液相色谱-三重四极杆串联质谱（UPLC-MS/MS）对 27 种抗生素进行定量，并通过 WBE 进行分析，将得出的估计值与特定流域的处方数据进行比较。在废水样本中检测到 23 种抗生素，2023 年的使用量大幅增加（从 531% 到 3734%），与处方数据一致。在此，我们展示了在 COVID-19 高峰期抗生素消耗量的大幅上升，这突出表明有必要进一步调查抗生素在中国不当使用的影响。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Nature Communications Biological Science Disciplines-

CiteScore

24.90

自引率

2.40%

发文量

6928

审稿时长

3.7 months

期刊介绍： Nature Communications, an open-access journal, publishes high-quality research spanning all areas of the natural sciences. Papers featured in the journal showcase significant advances relevant to specialists in each respective field. With a 2-year impact factor of 16.6 (2022) and a median time of 8 days from submission to the first editorial decision, Nature Communications is committed to rapid dissemination of research findings. As a multidisciplinary journal, it welcomes contributions from biological, health, physical, chemical, Earth, social, mathematical, applied, and engineering sciences, aiming to highlight important breakthroughs within each domain.