Abstract
The antibiotic-resistance profiles of Gram-negative bacteria isolated from four different sampling sites of the hospital wastewater at Lucknow city were evaluated. Of the 200 Gram-negative bacterial isolates tested, marked antibiotic resistances (over 90%) were observed for amoxicillin, methicillin, ampicillin, nalidixic acid, and penicillin depending upon the sampling sites. All Gram-negative bacterial isolates also showed multiple resistance patterns (2-13 antibiotics) in different combinations of antibiotics. The MAR index ranges were found (0.01-0.86) indicating the high risk of environmental contamination. The findings indicated that pollution of aquatic environments from different sources of the city may have a significant contribution to the emergence and dissemination of resistance in Gram-negative bacteria as well as other pathogenic bacteria in the hospital wastewater. This overuse of antibiotics as well as other pharmaceuticals in the hospital and their introduction into the aquatic environment may have a potential public health risk.