Bacterial profile of urinary tract infection among pregnant women: a systematic review

Abstract

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is the infection and colonization of microorganisms in the urinary tract. Women carry a higher risk of being affected by UTI compared to males, especially during pregnancy due to physiological and hormonal changes. Appropriate and adequate management of UTI reduces the incidence of further maternal and fetal complications. Nonetheless, there is a growing concern regarding resistance to antibiotics among the bacteria causing UTIs in pregnant women. To identify the bacterial profile of UTIs during gestation by exploring the previous research conducted on this subject. A systematic online search was performed on scientific databases to obtain articles related to the current subject using search terms, including bacteria, profile, causative agent, sensitivity, resistance, symptomatic, pregnancy, gestation, and pregnant women. The articles of relevance were considered if they were original articles, written in the English language, available for full-text, and reporting bacterial profile of UTI during pregnancy. A total of eight articles were eligible and met the inclusion criteria. The studies were published between 2020 and 2023 and included a total number of 3,702 pregnant females from five different countries. The bacterial profile of UTI among pregnant women including symptomatic UTI, and resistance and sensitivity of bacteria to antibiotics varied between different regions. However, the causative agents of UTI displayed less variation as Escherichia coli and K.pneomniae were the major causative agents of UTI during pregnancy.