Urinary Pathogens and Their Antimicrobial Susceptibility in Patients with Indwelling Urinary Catheter

The indwelling urinary catheter (IUC) is the most significant risk factor for developing nosocomial urinary tract infections (UTIs). In order to determine the spectrum of bacterial etiology and antibiotic resistance pattern of uropathogens causing catheter associated UTI, a convenient sample size of ninety-two (92) patients on urethral catheter was investigated. Ethical approval for the study was obtained from the OAUTHC research and ethical committee. Catheter stream urine samples were obtained from all patients and cultured on appropriate culture media. Suspected isolates were identified by a combination of standard tests and using MICROBACT GNA12A/B/E. Susceptibility of the isolates against thirteen (13) antibiotics was performed by the disc diffusion method. Significant bacteriuria was observed in 60.9% (56) catheter specimen urine (CSU) received, while 39.1% (36) were culture negative. Of the 56 positive culture, the predominant organisms were Klebsiella oxytoca, 28.6 %( 16), Proteus vulgaris, 23.2% (13) and Staphylococcus aureus, 12.5% (7). Overall, the antimicrobial susceptibility results showed that all the isolates were highly resistant to the antibiotics tested. Over 50% resistance was recorded for trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, gentamicin and amoxicillin/clavulanic acid. More than 25% of the isolates were resistant to nitrofurantoin. This study indicates that catheter stream UTI caused by multiply resistant bacteria are common in our hospital. There is a need to establish standard guidelines on the care of catheter for all units in the hospital with a view to preventing nosocomial infections associated with the use of the catheter in patients. We also advocated prudent use of antibiotics.