Depletion of ARGs in antibiotic-resistance Klebsiella, Pseudomonas and Staphylococcus in hospital urines by electro and photo-electro disinfection

Abstract

The depletion of blaKPC (K. pneumoniae), blaOXA-50 (P. aeruginosa) and mecA (S. aureus) genes from hospital urines is evaluated to contribute to solve the silent pandemic of antibiotic-resistance bacteria. A microfluidic flowthrough reactor with MMO anode and CB/PTFE cathode working at 50 A m− 2 is employed during electrodisinfection and photo-electrodisinfection processes. The electrodisinfection process only achieves an almost negligible removal of DNA and slightly log ARG increments of 0.18, 0.19 and 0.71 for blaOXA-50, mecA and blaKPC genes, respectively. Conversely, the photo-electrodisinfection process attains the complete disinfection for all ARB tested and logarithmic removals of 3.70, 2.25 and 0.82 for blaOXA-50, mecA and blaKPC genes, respectively. These outcomes emphasize the potential of the UV light coupled to the electrodisinfection process to promote the formation of not only hypochlorite but also chlorine and even nitrogen radicals, which contribute to enhance the disinfection efficiency of the target ARB and their ARGs.