ABSTRACT

This study was done to determine the prevalence of urinary tract infections amongst pregnant women attending ante-natal clinic in Umuahia, Abia State. A total of fifty (50) early morning mid-stream urine samples were collected and cultured on Nutrient agar, Blood agar and MacConkey agar using streak plate techniques for 24 hours at 37°C. This reveals the major bacterial pathogen in urinary tract infections to be Escherichia coli, Proteus species, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Streptococcus spp and Kiebsiella spp. Out of the fifty (50) urine samples examined, only fifteen (15) tested positive for urinary tract infection. It was observed in this study that Escherichiacoli was the most frequently distributed isolates among the samples with a high percentage occurrence of 8 (50%) followed by Kiebsiella pneumonia at 4 (25%) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa at 2 (12.5%), while the Proteus spp and Streptococcus spp had the least occurrence at 1 (6.2%) each. The antibiotic sensitivity profile for Gram positive and negative isolate from urine samples revealed that Escherichia coli 8 (100%) was highly sensitive to Streptomycin. Proteus spp showed high percentage sensitivity 1 (100%) to all antibiotics tested except Septrin, Nalidixic Acid and Augmentin. Pseudomonas aeruginosa showed 2 (100%) sensitivity to six antibiotics tested namely; Septrin, Ciprofloxacin, Tarivid, Augmentin, Pefioxacin and Ampicillin, while Kiebsiella pneumonia showed sensitivity percentage of 4 (100%) to only Pefloxacin and Streptomycin. The sensitivity among uropathogens against the commonly used antibiotics is a serious issue, which limits drug of choice for the treatment of urinary tract infections. The relatively high Pefloxacin, Augmentin, Levofloxacin, Amoxicillin, Ceporex, and Septrin sensitivity demonstrated by most of the predominant isolates in this study should be of great concern to medical practitioners, drug regulatory agencies and policy makers. These variations in sensitivity may be due to the prescription habits in different localities as inappropriate exposure to antibiotics drives development of resistance. It is therefore recommended that such factors that predispose individuals to urinary tract infections should be controlled.