ABSTRACT

Asymptomatic bacteriuria is one of the most common bacterial infections diagnosed during pregnancy. The incidence of asymptomatic bacteriuria was investigated among pregnant women attending antenatal clinics in 5 hospitals in Aba, Nigeria. Mid-stream urine samples were collected from 200 asymptomatic outpatients without any intake of antibiotics for any indication during the period of pregnancy. Each specimen was cultured on CLED agar, and blood agar. Investigations showed that 28% of the samples showed significant bacteriuria while 44% showed non significant bacteriuria. A total of 28% of the samples showed no growth. 5% of the samples showed significant bacteriuria within the 3 and 6 months of pregnancy. Of the variables examined. 73.2% of the infected women were in the age group of 25-34 years, 53.6% were in their second trimester, 44.7% had more than one child and 73.2% had 1-3 pregnancies. Escherichia coil were found to be the most commonly isolated organism (46.4%) followed by Staphylococcus aureus (30.4%) and kiebsiella aerogenes (2 1.4%). One sample, representing 1.8% of the total samples collected, showed the presence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The antibiotic sensitivity of the isolates was tested using 16 different antibiotics. Ceftriaxone, ciprofioxacin, ofioxacin cefotaxime, pefloxacin and levofloxacin were the most effective antimicrobials against the isolates while ampicillin and tetracycline were the least effective. S.aureus strains were resistant to cotrimoxazole and nalidixic acid while K aerogenes showed resistance to ampicillin, augmentin, levofloxacin and tetracycline. E. Coil strains exhibiting MIC values of 8 tg/ml were screened for -lactamase activity and out of 26 isolates, seventeen were found to be positive for J3-lactamase activity. This study reveals that E. coil is the most common bacteria for asymptomatic bacteriuria in pregnant females. Ampicillin and tetracycline are quite ineffective in treating these infections.