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    Maize Flour Prices to Rise Millers Association Warns

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    AKADEMIYA2063, African Economic Research Consortium sign MOU to Support Evidence-based Policymaking

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    Investors still Consider Land A Good Investment Asset in the Long Term

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    Residential rents declined by 19% says new report

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    Businessman Makes Ksh 2 trillion, Then Lost It All in Just 2 Days

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Kenyan Business Feed
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    Former Burkina Faso leader Compaore charged in predecessor Thomas Sankara’s murder

    Former Burkina Faso leader Compaore charged in predecessor Thomas Sankara’s murder

    OPINION: Need for cohesion between motorists and motorbike users for durable and safety mobility

    OPINION: Need for cohesion between motorists and motorbike users for durable and safety mobility

    Government Suspends Issuance of Development permits

    Government Suspends Issuance of Development permits

    OPPO Reno5 named official smartphone partner of PUBG MOBILE Esports

    OPPO Reno5 named official smartphone partner of PUBG MOBILE Esports

    AKADEMIYA2063, African Economic Research Consortium sign MOU to Support Evidence-based Policymaking

    AKADEMIYA2063, African Economic Research Consortium sign MOU to Support Evidence-based Policymaking

    Defiant Digital Taxi App Operators Given 30 Days Notice to Comply

    Defiant Digital Taxi App Operators Given 30 Days Notice to Comply

    KenGen Plans Direct Selling Of Electricity

    Interview: Rebecca Miano talks about success at KenGen’s and future

    Businessman Makes Ksh 2 trillion, Then Lost It All in Just 2 Days

    Businessman Makes Ksh 2 trillion, Then Lost It All in Just 2 Days

    Maize Flour Prices to Rise Millers Association Warns

    Maize Flour Prices to Rise Millers Association Warns

  • Markets
    AKADEMIYA2063, African Economic Research Consortium sign MOU to Support Evidence-based Policymaking

    AKADEMIYA2063, African Economic Research Consortium sign MOU to Support Evidence-based Policymaking

    Defiant Digital Taxi App Operators Given 30 Days Notice to Comply

    Defiant Digital Taxi App Operators Given 30 Days Notice to Comply

    Maize Flour Prices to Rise Millers Association Warns

    Maize Flour Prices to Rise Millers Association Warns

    Eat’N’Go joins Kenyan Market after acquiring Dominos Pizza

    Eat’N’Go joins Kenyan Market after acquiring Dominos Pizza

    Network International appoints Hany Fekry as Regional President

    Network International appoints Hany Fekry as Regional President

    SoftBank Under Investigation Over Risky ‘Nasdaq Whale’ Investments

    SoftBank Under Investigation Over Risky ‘Nasdaq Whale’ Investments

    Nokia to launch 6 cheaper and durable smartphones today

    Nokia to launch 6 cheaper and durable smartphones today

    IMF maintains Kenyas debt is still sustainable, Says loan is for the good of Kenyans

    IMF maintains Kenyas debt is still sustainable, Says loan is for the good of Kenyans

    The Association of Insurance Brokers of Kenya (AIBK) appoints Anthony Mwangi as board chairman

    The Association of Insurance Brokers of Kenya (AIBK) appoints Anthony Mwangi as board chairman

  • Real Estate
    Nairobi Ranked the Best City in Africa

    Nairobi Ranked the Best City in Africa

    Investors still Consider Land A Good Investment Asset in the Long Term

    Investors still Consider Land A Good Investment Asset in the Long Term

    Residential rents declined by 19% says new report

    Residential rents declined by 19% says new report

    This is how to get awarded Sh50,000 by Cytonn Real Estate

    The Kenyan retail sector performance softened in 2019 with rental yields declining 1.6%

    Cytonn’s Affordable Housing Investment Plan (CAHIP)

    17% of Kenyan Billionaires looking to buy a house in 2021

    17% of Kenyan Billionaires looking to buy a house in 2021

    Kenyan Firm awarded Most Innovative Community Developer 

    #OmokaNaAlma: This is how you get awarded Sh50,000 by Cytonn Real Estate

    Developing Countries Set To Lose Sh22 Trillion Due to COVID-19

    Commercial office rents fall 13pc in quarter 3 & 4 of 2020

    New Construction Technology to help NHC deliver affordable homes

    New Construction Technology to help NHC deliver affordable homes

  • Tech
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    Cryptocurrency: Bitcoin is the Fastest Asset to Reach a $1 Trillion Market Cap

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    Nokia to launch 6 cheaper and durable smartphones today

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    Kenyans send 11.4 billion daily over mobile phone

    Drake and Sauti Sol are the most streamed artists in Kenya

    Drake and Sauti Sol are the most streamed artists in Kenya

  • World Business
    Businessman Makes Ksh 2 trillion, Then Lost It All in Just 2 Days

    Businessman Makes Ksh 2 trillion, Then Lost It All in Just 2 Days

    SoftBank Under Investigation Over Risky ‘Nasdaq Whale’ Investments

    SoftBank Under Investigation Over Risky ‘Nasdaq Whale’ Investments

    IMF maintains Kenyas debt is still sustainable, Says loan is for the good of Kenyans

    IMF maintains Kenyas debt is still sustainable, Says loan is for the good of Kenyans

    Facebook Fined Ksh67 Million In Cambridge Analytica scandal

    Sensitive data of 533 million Facebook users have been leaked online

    Realme C11 a ‘hot cake’ as it makes top sales in Kenya

    Realme C11 a ‘hot cake’ as it makes top sales in Kenya

    How a religious festival turned into a massacre

    How a religious festival turned into a massacre

    Fire destroys servers at Europe’s largest cloud services firm

    Fire destroys servers at Europe’s largest cloud services firm

    1ST Commonwealth women’s Entrepreneurship Summit launched

    1ST Commonwealth women’s Entrepreneurship Summit launched

    OPPO Announces Global Partnership with Volkswagen

    OPPO Announces Global Partnership with Volkswagen

  • KBF
    • All
    • Agribusiness
    • Banking
    • Insurance
    • Manufacturing
    • Opinion
    Capital Markets weekly review

    Beauty e-commerce firm to list on the NSE

    Government Suspends Issuance of Development permits

    Government Suspends Issuance of Development permits

    OPPO Reno5 named official smartphone partner of PUBG MOBILE Esports

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    AKADEMIYA2063, African Economic Research Consortium sign MOU to Support Evidence-based Policymaking

    AKADEMIYA2063, African Economic Research Consortium sign MOU to Support Evidence-based Policymaking

    Defiant Digital Taxi App Operators Given 30 Days Notice to Comply

    Defiant Digital Taxi App Operators Given 30 Days Notice to Comply

    Businessman Makes Ksh 2 trillion, Then Lost It All in Just 2 Days

    Businessman Makes Ksh 2 trillion, Then Lost It All in Just 2 Days

    Maize Flour Prices to Rise Millers Association Warns

    Maize Flour Prices to Rise Millers Association Warns

    Tea Farmers to Receive Sh28B Bonus Payment

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    JSC kick-starts journey for the next Chief Justice

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      SoftBank Under Investigation Over Risky ‘Nasdaq Whale’ Investments

      SoftBank Under Investigation Over Risky ‘Nasdaq Whale’ Investments

      Equity beat KCB as Kenyas’ most profitable lender

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      Government looking to re introduce loan relief measures

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      Family Bank defy pandemic to grow profits to Ksh1.4 B

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      Stima Sacco announce a Ksh.1.02 billion profit

      Stima Sacco announce a Ksh.1.02 billion profit

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      KCB Receives Global Finance Award for The Best Bank in Kenya

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      The Association of Insurance Brokers of Kenya (AIBK) appoints Anthony Mwangi as board chairman

      The Association of Insurance Brokers of Kenya (AIBK) appoints Anthony Mwangi as board chairman

      Stima Sacco announce a Ksh.1.02 billion profit

      Stima Sacco announce a Ksh.1.02 billion profit

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      Faulu eyeing lucrative agribusiness ecosystem in Limuru

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      Minet feted Insurance Broker of the Year

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    • Manufacturing
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      OPINION: Energy Efficiency Will Decide Whether We Meet Our Global Climate Targets!

      Opinion: Now is The Time to Redeem the Nursing Profession

      Opinion: Now is The Time to Redeem the Nursing Profession

      IoT predictions for 2021: Smarter tech will make better business

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      OPINION: Managing the end-of-life of products to accelerate a circular economy in Kenya

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      Fail or win? Mixed Reactions over Safaricom’s new logo

      After fuliza, Safaricom introduces another way to borrow money

      OPINION: Why Safaricom’s Fuliza is a rip off!

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Study shows Nairobi River has alarming levels of antibiotics

by Kenyan Business Feed
June 3, 2019
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Health & Fitness

Study shows Nairobi River has alarming levels of antibiotics

Monday, June 3, 2019 11:11


By NASIBO KABALE

Nairobi River clean up
Nairobi River clean up. FILE PHOTO | NMG 

Some of the world’s best-known rivers, including the Nairobi River, are contaminated with antibiotics that exceed levels considered to be safe in health terms.

According to a global study conducted by York University researchers, concentrations of antibiotics found in some of the world’s rivers exceed “safe” levels by up to 300 times. Sites, where antibiotics exceeded these levels by the greatest degree, were in Bangladesh, Kenya, Ghana, Pakistan, and Nigeria.

Speaking to the Business Daily, Prof Alistair Boxall, theme leader of the York Environmental Sustainability Institute, said that samples collected from the Nairobi River revealed that the most prevalent antibiotic was sulfamethoxazole.

Sulfamethoxazole is normally given in combination with Trimethoprim. The research by the York team reveals that the antibiotic, which is primarily used to treat a variety of bacterial infections including urinary tract infections, was detected at 307 of the 711 sites tested.

This is not the first time the drug has been found to be prevalent in Kenya. In joint research between the US Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), US Army Medical Research Directorate-Kenya (USAMRD-K), Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri), and the University of Washington in 2017, Sulfamethoxazole was discovered to be the most commonly used antibiotic in the country.

“The research found that the widespread use of tetracycline in livestock production, use of trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (SXT) and chloramphenicol as first-line therapeutics for typhoid, and prophylactic use of SXT in persons exposed to or infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) might have contributed to the high prevalence of resistance,” the study reveals.

The findings by York University, however, explains that the Nairobi River is filled with vaccines due to the inappropriate disposal of sewage and waste dumped straight into rivers which also resulted in high antibiotic concentrations of up to 100 times safe levels.

Prof Boxall, said: “The results are quite eye-opening and worrying, demonstrating the widespread contamination of river systems around the world with antibiotic compounds.”

Prof Boxall, who presented the findings in a conference in Helsinki last week, added that the unsafe levels of antibiotics in the rivers is likely to increase the resistance to the drugs.

“The main concern is that these substances are causing an increase in antimicrobial resistance in the environment and that this resistance might be getting back to human and animal populations and contributing to the global antimicrobial resistance crisis. The substances might also be adversely affecting the ecology of the rivers,” said Prof Boxall.

Antibiotics are among the most widely used medication by human beings. They are categorised into numerous classes, according to their unique mode of action. Their side-effects are almost similar — such as nausea and vomiting. But their irrational misuse has been a source of concern.

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Resistance occurs when bacteria develop mechanisms to withstand the response of the mode of action of a drug. It is evolution through natural selection, causing a mutation that is passed as a trait to the offspring of the deviant microbes, hence becoming a fully resistant generation.

Antibiotic resistance is an emerging global issue. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), it is one of the biggest threats to global health and can affect a person of any age or race. WHO has blown the whistle over the emergence of drug-resistant bacteria that are rapidly spreading across the globe, threatening the world’s ability to treat common infectious diseases.

The UN, on the other hand, estimates that the rise in antibiotic resistance could kill 10 million people by 2050.

It notes that an increasing number of infections such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, drug poisoning, and gonorrhea are now becoming harder and sometimes impossible to treat as antibiotics become less and less effective.

Antibiotic resistance also puts the achievements of modern medicines at risk. Organ transplants, chemotherapy for cancer and life-saving surgeries will become much more dangerous without effective antibiotics to prevent and treat infections associated with these procedures.

Antimicrobial resistance in lower and middle-income countries such as Kenya is far greater than wealthy nations where prescription drugs are hard to find over the counter.

One study for example which was done in 2017 found that 90 percent of households in Kibera had used antibiotics in the previous year, compared with about 17 percent for the typical American family.

Antibiotic pollution is one of the key routes by which bacteria are able to develop resistance to the life-saving medicines, rendering them ineffective for human use.

The drugs find their way into rivers and soil via human and animal waste and leaks from wastewater treatment plants and drug manufacturing facilities. The York University research was made possible through the flying of 92 sampling kits to partners across the world who were asked to take samples from locations along their local river system. Samples were then frozen and couriered back to the University of York for testing. Some of the world’s most iconic rivers were sampled, including the Chao Phraya, Danube, Mekong, Seine, Thames, Tiber and Tigris.

An antibiotic called metronidazole took the record for the drug found in the most dangerous level at a single site, trimethoprim was the most prolific.

Ciproflaxacin, which is used to treat a number of bacterial infections, was the compound that most frequently exceeded safe levels, surpassing the safety threshold in 51 places.

The study revealed that high-risk sites were typically adjacent to wastewater treatment systems, waste or sewage dumps and in some areas of political turmoil, including the Israeli and Palestinian border.


Kenyan Business Feed is the top Kenyan Business Blog. We share news from Kenya and across the region. To contact us with any alert, please email us to [email protected]

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