Antibiotic Resistance and R Factors in Coliform Bacilli Isolated from Hospital and Domestic Sewage

Abstract

One-hundred and one samples from a wide variety of sewers and water-drainage channels in Bristol, including some sewers that separately drained hospital and domestic premises, were examined for antibiotic-resistant coliform bacilli and for R factors. The antibiotic-sensitivity patterns of over 3000 coliform bacilli isolated were obtained and 1000 resistant strains were tested for R-factor transfer.