Abstract

Urinary tract infections (UTI) are one of the most common bacterial infections during pregnancy. Untreated UTI can be associated with serious obstetric complications. Total 200 pregnant women with or without signs and symptoms of UTI were included in the study. Clean catch midstream urine samples [MSU], of these patients were collected and emiquantitative urine culture was performed. The uropathogens were identified by using standard microbiological procedure followed by antimicrobial susceptibility testing. Using ≥ 105 cfu/ml as significant level of bacteriuria, the prevalence was found to be 24.0%. Higher prevalence was found in third trimester (26.21%) and in 21-25 years age group (45.8%) and 26 -30 years age group (31.2%). Prevalence of UTI with asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) was more than that of symptomatic bacteriuria (17.5% and 6.5% respectively). E. coli (37.5%) was the most predominant isolate, followed by S. saprophyticus (25.0%), K. pneumoniae (14.6%) and E. faecalis (10.4%). E. coli isolates exihibited high sensitivity towards imipenem (94.4%), nitrofurantoin (94.4%), norfloxacin (72.2%) and aztreonam (72.2%) while resistance was observed against ampicillin and cefazolin. K. pneumoniae isolates exhibited high sensitivity towards nitrofurantoin (85.7%), norfloxacin (85.7%), imipenem (71.4%) and more resistance to cefazolin, ampicillin, and ofloxacin. Most effective antibiotics against gram positive cocci were vancomycin and linezolid while high resistance was observed towards cotrimoxazole and penicillin-G. In enterobacteriaceae, 22.22% E. coli isolates and 42.86% K. pneumoniae isolates were detected to be ESBL producers. The issue of multidrug resistance by various mechanisms is increasingly encountered. Hence, treatment strategy should be based on the known or suspected local susceptibility pattern to maintain efficacy and limit the emergence of the resistance.

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