Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41068296›Full record

Articlenpj antimicrobials and resistance2025

Environmental hazards from pollution of antibiotics and resistance-driving chemicals in an urban river network from Malawi.

Derek Cocker, Taonga Mwapasa, Roman Grabic, Kateřina Grabicová, Andrea Vojs Staňová, Kondwani Chidziwisano, Adam P Roberts, Tracy Morse, Nicholas A Feasey, Andrew C Singer

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in npj antimicrobials and resistance, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Review
  3. Review
  4. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Derek CockerMalawi-Liverpool Wellcome Program, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Blantyre, Malawi. derek.cocker@liverpool.ac.uk.
Taonga MwapasaCentre for Water, Sanitation, Health and Appropriate Technology Development (WASHTED), Polytechnic, University of Malawi, Blantyre, Malawi.
Roman GrabicFaculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, South Bohemian Research Center of Aquaculture and Biodiversity of Hydrocenoses, Vodňany, Czech Republic.
Kateřina GrabicováFaculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, South Bohemian Research Center of Aquaculture and Biodiversity of Hydrocenoses, Vodňany, Czech Republic.
Andrea Vojs StaňováFaculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, South Bohemian Research Center of Aquaculture and Biodiversity of Hydrocenoses, Vodňany, Czech Republic.
Kondwani ChidziwisanoCentre for Water, Sanitation, Health and Appropriate Technology Development (WASHTED), Polytechnic, University of Malawi, Blantyre, Malawi.
Adam P RobertsDepartment of Tropical Disease Biology, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK.
Tracy MorseCentre for Water, Sanitation, Health and Appropriate Technology Development (WASHTED), Polytechnic, University of Malawi, Blantyre, Malawi.
Nicholas A FeaseyMalawi-Liverpool Wellcome Program, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Blantyre, Malawi. nicholas.feasey@lstmed.ac.uk.
Andrew C SingerUK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Wallingford, UK.

Funding

Grantová Agentura České Republiky 20-04676XMedical Research Council MR/S004793/1Ministerstvo Školství, Mládeže a Tělovýchovy 90099Wellcome TrustWellcome Trust 216221
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

African communities have a high prevalence of antimicrobial-resistant bacterial carriage, alongside high levels of antibiotic usage and environmental pollution. Limited access to water, sanitation and hygiene infrastructure and wastewater treatment facilities enables the dissemination of resistant bacteria, antimicrobials and antibiotic resistance-driving chemicals (ARDCs) into local rivers. Few data exist quantifying the chemical drivers of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in urban aquatic environments from African settings. In this longitudinal surveillance study, we investigated an urban river network in Blantyre, Malawi over a continuous 12-month period, identifying a broad-range of chemical pollutants, including antibiotics, common pharmaceuticals, agricultural and industrial chemicals and heavy metals. Antimicrobial concentrations were found at levels selective for AMR and ARDCs exhibited seasonal variations, indicating that deficient sanitation infrastructure and anthropogenic factors result in high antibiotic and ARDC levels entering the river systems, which serve as an important ecological niche for the acquisition, maintenance and transmission of AMR.

Identifiers

PMID41068296
PMCPMC12511589

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.