Cephalosporin Containment Management Strategies from Drug Manufacturing to Control Antibiotic Resistance in South Asia

Abstract Antibiotics, especially cephalosporins, have been identified as immense environmental pollutants for the generation of antibiotic-resistant gene and antibiotic-resistant bacteria due to its indiscriminate usage, enormous production and consumption, highest prescription, and longtime existence as bioactive in the environment. There are multiple sources identified for this environmental pollution and drug manufacturing units are top of the list because other sources of contamination release a lower amount of drugs through excretion but direct discharges to the environment from drug manufacturing possess a huge possibility to exert a selective pressure for antibiotic resistance. There are multiple ways of discharging environmental pollutants from a drug manufacturing unit. Man, material, and machine are all responsible for contaminating the environment from a drug manufacturing unit, which can lead to the risk of resistance to organisms, especially bacteria present in the environment, and can produce multiresistant bacteria. Some recent initiatives for degradation or removal have been published within the last couple of years featuring various aspects of antibiotics. However, a complete methodology for controlling and removal of antibiotics, especially cephalosporin antibiotic contaminants, from a manufacturing plant is still unavailable, and thus affects the management of cephalosporin discharges. This review highlights the potential sources of contamination from a cephalosporin manufacturing unit, current industrial practices, and the possible management procedure including methodologies for removal of these contaminants before exposure to the environment to control antibiotic resistance.