Prevalence and Antimicrobial Susceptibility Profile of Bacterial Isolates from Infected Caesarean Sites in Three Federal Capital Territory Hospitals, Abuja Nigeria

In Nigeria, delivery by caesarean section which was once a dreaded event due in part to possible complications, fear and cost implications has over the past few years gain acceptance especially among the urban dwellers, as more women and doctors opt for caesarean delivery, resulting to increase in incidence of caesarean site infections. A total of one hundred and ninety four (194) caesarean sites of women who have undergone caesarean section delivery in three federal capital territory hospitals with signs of infection were screened for bacterial infection between September, 2017 and July 2018. Specimens were collected using sterile cotton swab and processed using standard operative procedures in appropriate culture media and susceptibility test was done using Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion technique. The result showed that forty six (46) out of the total (194) were found to be infected. This represented a 23.71% infection rate. The infection was polymicrobial in nature with various bacterial species such as; Escherichia coli, Enterobacter spp, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella spp and Proteus spp, isolated. The single most commonly infecting organism was found to be Escherichia coli which had been isolated from 13(28.26%) samples, followed by Staphylococcus aureus 10(21.74%), Staphylococcus epidermidis 8(17.39%), Enterobacter spp 6(13.04), Pseudomonas aeruginosa 4(8.70%), Klebsiella spp 3(6.52%), and Proteus spp 2(4.35%) respectively. One hundred percent (100%) resistance to tetracycline and amoxicillin was recorded mostly from gram negative organisms while ciprofloxacin, gentamycin, cefalexin and cefuroxime exhibited significant antibacterial activity against the isolated pathogens and therefore recommended for consideration in cases of caesarean infection