Climate change: any dangers from antimicrobial resistant bacteria?

Antimicrobial resistance represents a threat whereby micro-organisms (particularly bacteria) become resistant to our antibiotics and disinfectants, thus complicating our ability to treat and prevent infections. This is often developed by sub-inhibitory exposures to our drugs and/or disinfectants, but it can be caused by (often negative) changes in the environment as a stress-response mechanism to environmental conditions, such as temperature, salinity, metals (potentially toxic elements), and organic pollutants.

Here, we explored possible mechanisms by which climate change could eitherdirectly (by changes in temperature and/or precipitation) or indirectly—such asshifts in human populations, disease vectors, agriculture, water availability, glaciation, and hydrology--could affect the development or transfer ofantimicrobial resistance in bacteria.