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BackgroundThe establishment of metagenomics seems a suitable approach to assess the abundance and diversity of antibiotic resistance genes (ARG)MethodsMetagenomics study in a Peruvian city from the highlands, where samples were derived from sewage waters from two hospitals and the urban setting. DNA extraction was performed in 250 mL and then 16S rRNA gene amplification and shotgun sequencing were carried out. The bioinformatics pipeline was performed following recommendations for metagenomics analysis. Alpha diversity was evaluated with the Shannon and Simpson’s indices; whereas beta diversity was evaluated through the Bray-Curtis index, and using the principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) to explore and visualize the differences.ResultsWe found a high abundance of bacteria related to resistance to beta-lactams, macrolides, aminoglycosides, fluoroquinolones, and tetracyclines. The urban sample did not differ significantly from the wastewater ARG presence from the hospitals in Huanuco.ConclusionMetagenomics analysis through sewage strategies seems to help to monitor the AMR to establish local public health policies, especially in cities or countries with limited resources to establish large projects conceiving the One Health approach.

ObjectivesThe analysis of transmission dynamics is crucial to determine whether mitigation or suppression measures reduce the spread of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This study sought to estimate the basic (R0) and time-varying (Rt) reproduction number of COVID-19 and contrast the public health measures for ten South American countries.MethodsData was obtained from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Country-specific R0 estimates during the first two weeks of the outbreak and Rt estimates after 90 days were estimated.ResultsCountries used a combination of isolation, physical distancing, quarantine, and community-wide containment measures to staunch the spread of COVID-19 at different points in time. R0 ranged from 1.52 (95% confidence interval: 1.13-1.99) in Venezuela to 3.83 (3.04-4.75) in Chile, whereas Rt after 90 days ranged from 0.71 (95% credible interval: 0.39-1.05) in Uruguay to 1.20 (1.19-1.20) in Brazil. Different R0 and Rt values may be related to the testing capacity of each country.ConclusionR0 in the early phase of the outbreak varied across the South American countries. The public health measures adopted in the initial period of the pandemic appear to have reduced Rt over time in each country, albeit to different levels.