Flying insects in hospitals carry 'superbug' germs

Authored by upi.com and submitted by mvea

A study found many flies and flying insects in hospitals carry bacteria that could pose an infection risk to patients, and more than half of them carry the types that resist antibiotics. Photo by Parentingupstream/pixabay

Many flies and flying insects in hospitals carry bacteria that could pose an infection risk to patients, and more than half of them carry the types that resist antibiotics, a new study says.

British researchers used ultraviolet-light flytraps, electronic fly killers and sticky traps to collect nearly 20,000 flies, aphids, ants, wasps, bees and moths at seven hospitals in England over 18 months, and found that almost 9 in 10 insects had potentially harmful bacteria on or in their bodies.

A total of 86 bacterial strains were found in the insects. Enterobacteriaceae -- a family that includes E. coli and Salmonella -- were the most common (41 percent), followed by Bacillus (which includes the food poisoning germ B. cereus at 24 percent and staphylococci (which includes S. aureus, a cause of skin infections, abscesses and respiratory infections) at 19 percent..

In some cases, the level of bacteria carried by insects was enough to potentially cause infection in humans. The findings show that "a variety of flying insects collected from U.K. hospitals do indeed harbor pathogenic bacteria of different species," said study lead author Federica Boiocchi, a Ph.D. student at Aston University in Birmingham.

The study also found that 53 percent of the bacterial strains on the insects were resistant to at least one class of antibiotics -- so-called "superbugs." Of those, 19 percent were resistant to multiple antibiotics.

Resistance was most common for penicillin, but resistance to other widely used antibiotics, including vancomycin and levofloxacin, was also found, according to the study.

"What's quite interesting, though, is the high proportion of drug-resistant bacteria found in these samples. It's a vivid reminder of how our overuse of antibiotics in health care settings is making infections more difficult to treat," Boiocchi said in a university news release.

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The insects were collected from a number of areas of the hospitals, including those where food for patients, visitors and staff was prepared or stored, as well as wards, neonatal units and maternity units.

The highest numbers of insects were collected in the spring and summer.

Anthony Hilton, a professor of applied microbiology at the university, noted, "What we are saying in this paper is that even in the cleanest of environments, it's important to take steps to prevent bacteria being brought into hospitals by insects."

The findings were published June 21 in the Journal of Medical Entomology. More information

The independent, not-for-profit National Patient Safety Foundation has more on preventing infections in the hospital.

Copyright 2019 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Sleepdprived on June 23rd, 2019 at 13:58 UTC »

It makes sense, the fly lands on something dirty to eat, even if its the one spot on the whole hospital that didn't get hit with bleach, it will be where the food/germs are then they fly around until they find another meal. Doing this they would be the best possible vector for a bacteria to move around an otherwise ultra sanitized area. (Edit spelling)

polygonsaresorude on June 23rd, 2019 at 12:45 UTC »

How does this compare to bugs caught in places other than hospitals.

mvea on June 23rd, 2019 at 12:05 UTC »

The post title is a copy and paste from the title, second and fifth paragraphs of the linked popular press article here:

Flying insects in hospitals carry 'superbug' germs

British researchers used ultraviolet-light flytraps, electronic fly killers and sticky traps to collect nearly 20,000 flies, aphids, ants, wasps, bees and moths at seven hospitals in England over 18 months, and found that almost 9 in 10 insects had potentially harmful bacteria on or in their bodies.

The study also found that 53 percent of the bacterial strains on the insects were resistant to at least one class of antibiotics -- so-called "superbugs." Of those, 19 percent were resistant to multiple antibiotics.

Journal Reference:

An Examination of Flying Insects in Seven Hospitals in the United Kingdom and Carriage of Bacteria by True Flies (Diptera: Calliphoridae, Dolichopodidae, Fanniidae, Muscidae, Phoridae, Psychodidae, Sphaeroceridae)

Federica Boiocchi Matthew P Davies Anthony C Hilton

Journal of Medical Entomology, tjz086,

Link: https://academic.oup.com/jme/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/jme/tjz086/5514158

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jme/tjz086

Published: 21 June 2019

Abstract

Insects are efficient vectors of bacteria and in the hospital environment may have a role in spreading nosocomial infections. This study sampled the flying insect populations of seven hospitals in the United Kingdom and characterized the associated culturome of Diptera, including the antibiotic resistance profile of bacterial isolates. Flying insects were collected in seven U.K. hospitals between the period March 2010 to August 2011. The bacteria carried by Diptera were isolated using culture-based techniques, identified and characterized by antimicrobial susceptibility testing. A total of 19,937 individual insects were collected with Diptera being the most abundant (73.6% of the total), followed by Hemiptera (13.9%), Hymenoptera (4.7%), Lepidoptera (2.9%), and Coleoptera (2%). From Diptera, 82 bacterial strains were identified. The majority of bacteria belonged to the Enterobacteriaceae (42%), followed by Bacillus spp. (24%) and Staphylococcus spp. (19%). Less abundant were bacteria of the genus Clostridium (6%), Streptococcus (5%), and Micrococcus (2%). A total of 68 bacterial strains were characterized for their antibiotic resistance profile; 52.9% demonstrated a resistant phenotype to at least one class of antibiotic. Staphylococcus spp. represented the highest proportion of resistant strains (83.3%), followed by Bacillus spp. (60%) and Enterobacteriaceae (31.3%). Diptera were the predominant flying insects present in the U.K. hospital environments sampled and found to harbor a variety of opportunistic human pathogens with associated antimicrobial resistance profiles. Given the ability of flies to act as mechanical vectors of bacteria, they present a potential to contribute to persistence and spread of antimicrobial-resistant pathogenic bacteria in the hospital environment.