Antibiotic resistance among germs swells during droughts, study suggests

Soil bacterial communities dry soil consistently selects for and enriches antibiotic resistance, experiments were performed by researchers at Caltech.

Antibiotic-resistant infections pro-resistance conditions in soil were linked to higher frequencies of antibiotic-resistant infections in hospitals worldwide, authors compared soil conditions with hospital infection data.

Study the study was published in Nature Microbiology, publication venue of the study.

Soil environment as soil dries, natural antibiotics concentrate in remaining moisture pockets, selecting for resistant bacteria, proposed mechanism reported in the paper.

Study authors the study offers an example of how climate change can intersect with microbial ecology to shape public health outcomes, authors' summary statement.