The emergence of pathogenic bacteria resistant to most, if not all, currently available antimicrobial agents has become a critical problem in modern medicine, particularly because of the concomitant increase in immunosuppressed patients [2]. In June 2000, the WHO warned that the level of resistance to drugs used to treat common infectious diseases is reaching a crisis point. If world governments do not control infections in order to slow down the development of drug resistance, entire populations could be wiped out by superbugs [3].
During the past decade, concern has grown about the adverse effects of the use and disposal of pharmaceuticals might potentially have on human and ecological health [4]. Resistant and even multi-resistant pathogenic bacteria have been detected in wastewater and sewage treatment plants, as well as in other environmental compartments 5, 6, 7 and 8. Furthermore, in arid regions, wastewater containing resistant bacteria and antibiotics is used for irrigation, and sewage sludge serves as a fertilizer. This allows resistant bacteria to enter the food chain directly. Hospitals are one, albeit not the only source of antibiotic input into the environment [4].
This investigation aims to explore the profile of antimicrobial resistance, and evaluate the size of this problem among the pathogenic Gram-negative bacteria as the most commonly encountered pathogens in hospitals drain in Al-Madina Al-Munnawara.