Bacterial profile and current distribution of antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of uropathogens from pregnant women with urinary tract infections

Abstract

Background: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are the most frequently encountered bacterial infections among pregnant women. Untreated UTIs increase both maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality. Objective: To determine the uropathogens profile of pregnant women with urinary tract infections and their susceptibility pattern to commonly used antimicrobials. Methods: A total of 358 urine samples from pregnant women with urinary tract infections at different trimesters were collected and processed for the isolation of uropathogens and tested against six groups of commonly used antibiotics. Results: A total of 358 pregnant women were recruited for the study over the study period. Of these, 120 (33.5%) had positive urine culture and varying antibiotic sensitivity pattern. Escherichia coli was the most common bacteria isolated with a percentage of 56.7%. Other isolated microorganisms included Staphylococcus aureus (21.7%), Klebsiella spp. (4.2%), Pseudomonas spp. (3.3%), Enterococcus spp. (1.7%), Enterobacter spp. (1.7%), Proteus spp. (1.7%) and Citrobacter spp. (1.7%). Levofloxacin had the highest overall antibiotic sensitivity of 83.0%. Others with overall antibiotic sensitivity pattern greater than 50% included ciprofloxacin (82.5%), streptomycin (70.0%), perfloxacin (61.6%), ceftriaxone (69.2%), cefixime (65.0%), amoxicillin (61.6%) and gentamicin (60.0%). There was strong resistance to nalidixic acid, cotrimoxazole and chloramphenicol. Conclusion: Uropathogens causing UTIs in pregnancy were the usual known organisms but the antibiotic resistance patterns varied. Fluoroquinolone, Cephalosporin and aminoglycosides were shown to be very effective against the organisms causing UTIs in these pregnant women.