Dry Soil Boosts Antibiotic Resistance, Study Warns

A recent study has revealed that the risk of antibiotic resistance increases due to drying out of the soil due to sun and lack of rain. According to this analysis, it has been found that the decrease in soil moisture is increasing the amount of natural antibiotics and promoting the growth of bacteria that are resistant to them. This research was published in the journal Nature Microbiology. The increasing sun due to the effect of climate change is causing the soil to become drier. Scientists warn that this may also increase antibiotic resistance. Researchers from the California Institute of Technology in the US compared antibiotic resistance data collected from hospitals in 116 countries with rainfall and temperatures in the respective regions. In this analysis, it was observed that the level of antibiotic resistance was also higher in areas with more dry conditions.

If there is more sun..

According to scientists, soil naturally contains a large number of antibiotic-producing microbes. They produce these chemicals to fight each other. However, when the sun is high, the concentration of these antibiotics increases and the bacteria that are sensitive to them decreases. At the same time, resistant bacteria are able to survive. As part of the research, soil samples collected from croplands and grasslands in California, forests in Switzerland, and wetlands in China were examined. In this data, it was also found that antibiotic-producing genes are more abundant in sunny conditions.

Will they have an impact on people?

The same thing was confirmed in lab experiments. When the water content decreased, the concentration of antibiotics increased, and normal bacteria were reduced by up to 99 percent. But antibiotic-resistant bacteria were not affected. These results suggest that climate change is affecting public health in another way. However, the researchers said that the extent to which these changes will affect human health is not yet fully clear. Thus, the study makes it clear that the increasing sun exposure due to climate change is not only contributing to the environment, but also to the increase in antibiotic resistance.