Asymptomatic Bacteriuria among Pregnant Women Attending An-tenatal Clinic at the University Hospital, Kumasi, Ghana

The apparent decline in immunity of pregnant women appears to promote the growth of both com-mensal and non-commensal microorganisms. The objective of the study was to determine the prevalence of asymptomatic bacteriuria in pregnant women visiting the University hospital, Ku-masi. This prospective hospital-based study was carried out between April-June 2009. A total of 200 pregnant women were recruited for this study. The ages of the women ranged from 15 to 46 years. About 5-10mls of clean catch urine was cultured on Cysteine Lactose Electrolyte Deficient (CLED) agar aerobically at 37oC . Isolates were identified to the species level using standard proto-col. Antibiotic sensitivity test were carried out using the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method. Of the 200 women examined, 19 had significant bacteriuria representing a prevalence of 9.5% in the study population. Pregnant women in their second trimester from the study had the highest prevalence of significant bacteriuria (52.6%) with age ranges between 30-34 years having the highest prevalence (36.8%). Nulliparous women were 35 (17.5%) with 3 (8.6%) testing positive for bacteriuria and 165 (82.5%) were multiparous with 16 (9.7%) testing positive for bacteriuria. E. coli (36.8%) was the common bacteria isolate from this study. From this study, asymptomatic bacteriuria is common among antenatal women in the population studied. It is therefore recommended that periodic test-ing of pregnant women is advocated and those found to be infected need to be treated to avoid complications.