Abstract

ISOLATION, IDENTIFICATION AND ANTIBIOTIC SUSCEPTIBILITY PATTERN OF BACTERIA ASSOCIATED WITH URINARY TRACT INFECTIONS (UTIs) IN PREGNANT WOMEN ATTENDING ANTENATAL CARE AT REGINA-CAELI HOSPITAL AND MATERNITY AWKA, ANAMBRA STATE, NIGERIA

*Ezeadila Joachim O., Ogu Gideon I., Odiakose Ruth A. and Ejike Onyibo S.

Abstract

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the most frequently seen medical conditions in pregnancy with its attendant complications. This study investigated the antibiotic susceptibility pattern of bacteria associated with urinary tract infections among pregnant women attending ante-natal care in Regina-Caeli Hospital and Maternity, and also identified the isolated aetiologic bacteria. A total of 53 clean voided mid-stream urine samples were collected from pregnant women between the ages of 18–49 years and cultured on Cystine Lactose Electrolyte Deficient (CLED) agar using streaking culture techniques. The pure colonies were identified based on colonial morphology, microscopic characteristics, and biochemical tests. The susceptibility pattern of the isolates to common antibiotics was also determined using the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion techniques. Results showed that among the samples analyzed, 30 bacterial isolates were recovered with Escherichia coli 20 (66.6 %) being the most predominant, followed by Staphylococcus saprophyticus 6 (20.0 %), Klebsiella spp 2 (6.6 %) and Proteus spp 2 (6.6 %). The overall antibiotic susceptibility test revealed that all the Gram negative bacteria isolated were resistant to chloramphenicol, sparflox, ampicillin and tarivid while streptomycin showed a pronounced activity against Proteus sp with an inhibition zone diameter of 25mm. Escherichia coli was the least susceptible. Staphylococcus aureus was susceptible to ofloxacin and ciprofloxacin but resistant to rocephine, pefloxacin, gentamicin, erythromycin and zinnacef. Routine screening of pregnant women for urinary tract infection during every ante-natal visit should be considered an essential care in the community to avoid complications in early pregnancy.

Keywords: Urinary Tract Infection, antibiotic susceptibility, pregnancy, ante-natal.