%0 Journal Article %A Linton, K. B. %A Richmond, M. H. %A Bevan, Rosemary %A Gillespie, W. A. %T Antibiotic Resistance and R Factors in Coliform Bacilli Isolated from Hospital and Domestic Sewage %D 1974 %J Journal of Medical Microbiology, %V 7 %N 1 %P 91-103 %@ 1473-5644 %R https://doi.org/10.1099/00222615-7-1-91 %I Microbiology Society, %X SUMMARY One-hundred and one samples from a wide variety of sewers and water-drainage channels in Bristol, including some sewers that separately drained hospital and domestic premises, were examined for antibiotic-resistant coliform bacilli and for R factors. The antibiotic-sensitivity patterns of over 3000 coliform bacilli isolated were obtained and 1000 resistant strains were tested for R-factor transfer. Hospital sewage contained more coliform bacilli with much higher proportions of resistant bacteria, more R factors, and a greater proportion of R factors carrying multiple resistance, than sewage from domestic and other sources. Despite these findings, it was calculated that less than 5% of the R factors in the sewage output of the City of Bristol originate in hospitals. The normal, healthy population appears to be by far the greatest reservoir of R factors in the community. %U https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/jmm/10.1099/00222615-7-1-91