Prevalence and Antibacterial Susceptibility of Isolates of Coliuria among Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Clinic at State Specialist Hospital, Maiduguri

Abstract

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is common among pregnant women and can be associated with negative outcome for both the mother and the foetus. In view of the increasing bacterial resistance, regular monitoring of resistance patterns is necessary to improve guideline for empirical antibacterial therapy. The aims of this study were to estimate prevalence of coliuria and determine the antibiogram of the isolates among pregnant women attending antenatal clinics at State Specialist Hospital, Maiduguri. This study involved pregnant women at any stage of gestation attending Antenatal Clinics at State Specialist Hospital, Maiduguri without signs of life-threatening conditions and focused on E. coli as a cause of UTI using urine samples. Plate streaking method was used in isolation of E. coli while disc diffusion method was used as technique for antibacterial susceptibility testing. The urine samples analysed showed a prevalence of coliuria of 39.1 % (59/151) among the subjects. The results of antibacterial sensitivity indicated that gentamicin (86.4%, 51/59) demonstrated significantly (p < 0.05) highest activity against the isolates while streptomycin (10.2%, 6/59) and cephalexin (10.2%, 6/59) had the least activity. The antibacterial resistance of individual isolates revealed that most of the isolates were multi-drug resistant strains and majority (98.3%, 58/59) of the isolates was resistant to at least three (3) antibacterial drugs. Isolate 11 (Ec11) was resistant to all the ten (10) antibacterial drugs tested while isolate 35 (Ec35) had the least resistance of 10% as it was only sensitive to gentamicin. These findings suggest that there is a high prevalence of coliuria among pregnant women attending antenatal clinics at SSH, Maiduguri. Only gentamicin is suitable antibacterial agent in the treatment of the condition and this could contribute to effective treatment and effective discharge of antenatal care practice in Maiduguri.