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Abstract

Project Mentor(s): Holly Pinkart, PhD

Since the mid-1900s, antibiotics have been developed to help fight against bacterial pathogens. However, bacteria can evolve rapidly and have evolved resistance to many types of antibiotics. Using coliform bacteria collected from waters around Kittitas County, BIOL 323 students at Central Washington University have identified a variety of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in Kittitas County streams and canals. Antibiotic resistance was measured from 2014-2019 and compared to data collected in 2024. This study focuses on three antibiotics, ampicillin, kanamycin, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. In the past (2014-2019) we saw no change in the trend of antibiotic resistance in collected data for ampicillin, an upward trend of antibiotic resistance in data collected for kanamycin, and an upward trend of antibiotic resistance in data collected for trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. When compared with the data collected in 2024, we see no significant increase in antibacterial resistance for ampicillin, a significant increase in antibacterial resistance for kanamycin, and a significant increase in antibacterial resistance for trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. The results of this research can be used to further study antibiotic resistance in the environment, and the data will be submitted to the WISAR (Washington Integrated Surveillance for Antimicrobial Resistance) database.

SOURCE Form ID

249

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