RAMBLA

Duration

05/12/2024 - 04/06/2025

Coordinator

Elisabet Guiral (IP)

Funded by

Ajuntament de Barcelona

Although in recent years there has been a significant increase in research in the area of human microbiome and antibiotic resistance, there is still a gap in this field of knowledge. More specifically, in the child population and in the elderly, who frequent city recreational areas and have direct contact with them, in addition to presenting a high prevalence of underdiagnosed gastroenteritis due to their self-limiting nature.

Some studies have found genetically identical strains that cause gastroenteritis in humans and that, at the same time, are present in seagull feces. Therefore, it is urgent to study the urban environment and identify all environmental reservoirs of zoonotic and resistant bacteria to complete our knowledge of the epidemiological cycle in the urban environment under a One Health prism.

Through environmental sampling (surfaces of playgrounds frequented by seagulls, pigeons and parrots) and human sampling (feces of children and elderly people with clinical gastroenteritis), the project aims to characterize the similarity of these bacterial strains to determine a possible common origin. Both samplings will be confined to a specific area of the city of Barcelona, in the Eixample Esquerra neighborhood, where the health centers from which the human samples will be obtained are located —Hospital Clínic and the Primary Care Centers (CAPSBE)— and where there are several children's play areas in the inner islands.

If the RAMBLA project demonstrates this transmission of microorganisms, it would allow the proposal of local interventions to break the chain of transmission, reduce the risk and improve the welfare of people.

In addition, the project has an important citizen science aspect, as it will involve the users of these public spaces in decision making at different levels: which surfaces of the parks to sample and possible intervention measures, among others.

Total Funding

100.000€