Urinary Bacterial Profile and Antibiotic Susceptibility Pattern among Pregnant Women in North West Ethiopia

Background: Urinary tract infection in pregnancy is associated with significant morbidity for both the mother and the baby. The aim of this study was to determine the bacterial profile and antibiotic resistance pattern of the urinary pathogens isolated from pregnant women at Felege Hiwot Referral Hospital Bahirdar, Ethiopia. Methods: A total of 367 pregnant women with and without symptoms of urinary tract infection were enrolled as a study subject from October 2010 to January 2011. Organisms were identified from mid-stream clean catch urine samples and antibiotic susceptibility was performed using bacteriological standard tests. Data were collected using structured questionnaires and were processed and analyzed using SPSS for Windows version 16. Results: Out of 367 pregnant women, 37 were symptomatic and the rest 330 asymptomatic. Bacteriological screening of urine samples revealed growth of bacteria in 8.5% (7/37) and 18.9% (28/330) for symptomatic and asymptomatic pregnant women respectively with overall prevalence of 9.5%. The most common isolates detected were E.coli (45.7%) followed by coagulase negative Staphylococcus (17.1%) and S.aureus (8.6%). Gram-negative bacteria showed resistance rates in the range of 56.5% -82.6 % against trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, tetracycline, amoxicillin & ampicillin. Gram positive isolates showed resistant rate ranging from 50-100% against tetracycline, trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazole, amoxicillin and penicillin-G. Both Gram positive and gram negative bacteria showed high sensitivity against Nitrofurantoin with a rate of 82.3% and 87%, respectively. All isolated Gram positive bacterial uropathogens were sensitive for Amoxicillin-clauvlanic acid. Conclusions: The isolation of bacterial pathogens both from symptomatic and asymptomatic pregnant women that are resistance to the commonly prescribed drug calls for an early screening of all pregnant women to urinary tract infection.