Prevalence, risk factors and causative organisms of asymptomatic bacteriuria in pregnancy

Abstract

Background: Asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) is a relatively common condition occurring due to the morphological and physiological changes in the genitourinary tract during pregnancy. If left untreated, it may lead to acute pyelonephritis and adverse fetal and maternal outcomes. The objective was to determine prevalence, risk factors and etiological agents with susceptibility for ASB among pregnant women attending an antenatal clinic at a tertiary care hospital, Odisha, India.Methods: A prospective study with 200 pregnant women was conducted, over a period of 4 months, starting from 1st April 2017 to 31st July 2017. The mid- stream clean catch urine specimen was collected and processed in all the cases and other data were collected from the questionnaire given to them. The isolates from all the cases of ASB were identified and antimicrobial susceptibility was tested by Kirby- Bauer disc diffusion method and interpreted.Results: Prevalence of ASB in our study was 25.3%, with maximum prevalence among age group 21-30 yrs, during 3rd trimester, among multigravidae. Previous history of urinary tract infection (UTI), anaemia and diabetes have significant association with ASB. Klebsiella spp. was the predominant isolate in this study followed by Escherichia coli. Nitrofurantoin and Cefixime are safe and effective antibiotics against urinary pathogens in pregnancy.Conclusions: Undiagnosed and untreated asymptomatic bacteriuria is associated with complications during pregnancy. Hence routine screening of antenatal women for ASB during all trimesters must be considered for preventing the adverse maternal and foetal outcomes particularly with known risk factors like increasing age, multiparity and previous history of UTI.