Prevalence of antibiotic-resistant Salmonella in kratom: Three-year monitoring study

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F60461373%3A22330%2F25%3A43932739" target="_blank" >RIV/60461373:22330/25:43932739 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhip.2025.100652" target="_blank" >https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhip.2025.100652</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.puhip.2025.100652" target="_blank" >10.1016/j.puhip.2025.100652</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Prevalence of antibiotic-resistant Salmonella in kratom: Three-year monitoring study

Original language description

Objectives: Kratom, powder from Mitragyna speciosa leaves, is a popular psychoactive drug. It poses a health risk to consumers not only because of its narcotic and stimulating effects, but also because its quality is not controlled by the same laws as other food and pharmaceutical products. Due to the absence of mandatory quality control, kratom carries an increased risk of pathogenic bacteria contamination. Based on previous studies, the most relevant of these from a public health perspective are bacteria of the genus Salmonella, particularly serotypes that may cause severe gastrointestinal illness and exhibit resistance to antimicrobial agents. To assess the scale of the problem, we monitored the occurrence of Salmonella in commercially available kratom in the Czech Republic and determined its antimicrobial resistance. Study design: Original microbiological research (long-term monitoring). Methods: In 2022-2024, we tested 96 different kratom samples, from which Salmonella was isolated by the cultivation method according to EN ISO 6579. Series of biochemical and agglutination tests were used to determine the species, subspecies and serotypes. The disk diffusion method was used for testing susceptibility to 16 antimicrobial agents, and the results were interpreted using EUCAST and CLSI criteria. Results: Salmonella was isolated from 16 out of all 96 tested samples. Biochemical and agglutination tests revealed that Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica was the most prevalent species and subspecies (14 samples), with some of the identified serotypes being relatively rare. Regarding the susceptibility to antimicrobial agents, out of all isolates 15 were resistant to at least one tested antimicrobial agent, and three isolates were classified as multidrug resistant. Conclusions: Based on our analysis, the rate of Salmonella contamination did not differ statistically over the three years of study. Our results highlight the need for the continuous monitoring of Salmonella in kratom and provide a basis for the implementation of legal restrictions of its sale.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

30304 - Public and environmental health

Project

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Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2025

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Public Health in Practice

ISSN

2666-5352

e-ISSN

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Volume of the periodical

10

Issue of the periodical within the volume

Neuveden

Country of publishing house

IE - IRELAND

Number of pages

5

Pages from-to

nestránkováno

UT code for WoS article

001583015300001

EID of the result in the Scopus database

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