Shigella flexneri infection is the
main cause of diarrhea in humans worldwide. The emergence of antimicrobial
resistance (AMR) of S. flexneri is
a growing public health threat worldwide, while large-scale studies
monitoring the longitudinal AMR trends of isolates remain scarce.
Here, the AMR gene (ARG) profiles of 717 S. flexneri isolates from 1920 to 2020 worldwide were determined. The results
showed that the average number of ARGs in isolates has increased significantly,
from 19.2 ± 2.4 before 1970 to 29.6 ± 5.3 after 2010. In
addition, mobile genetic elements were important contributors to ARGs
in S. flexneri isolates. The results
of the structural equation model showed that the human development
index drove the consumption of antibiotics and indirectly promoted
the antibiotic resistance. Finally, a machine learning algorithm was
used to predict the antibiotic resistance risk of global terrestrial S. flexneri isolates and successfully map the antibiotic
resistance threats in global land habitats with over 80% accuracy.
Collectively, this study monitored the longitudinal AMR trends, quantitatively
surveilled the health risk of S. flexneri AMR, and provided a theoretical basis for mitigating the threat
of antibiotic resistance.
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