Good gut bacteria vs bad: what we learnt about antibiotic resistance from a community in Nairobi

Years of antibiotic use have fuelled a rise in bacteria that can survive antibiotics.

These antibiotic resistant bacteria are competing with and displacing other bacteria that are naturally present in the human gut, where they play a critical role in maintaining good health.

Resistant bacteria have led to increased illness and death from diseases that were once easily treatable with antibiotics.

Disease ecologist Eric Ng'eno shares findings from his research on how some resistant strains of Escherichia coli bacteria are taking over the guts of people who are otherwise healthy.

He suggests how this displacement can be slowed down.

What did you do that’s new? In every person’s gut there are millions of friendly microbes that help digest food, produce energy, and shield the person from harmful, disease-causing bacteria and other invaders.

The microbes that live in the body include bacteria, fungi and viruses.

They form a community of microorganisms.

Where people live and work together, healthy microbes spread easily through everyday interactions like handshakes, kissing, and sharing food or water.

In this way, people who interact often tend to develop similar gut microbes.

We call these the background microbial community.

Disease-causing agents spread in a similar way.

Microorganisms affect the environment around them so as to encourage or prevent the growth of other microorganisms in their community.

We wanted to assess whether these microbial interactions play a role in the presence of resistant E. coli in the gut of individuals living in a densely populated urban informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya.