Journal of AdvancedMedical and Dental Sciences Research

Aim: Investigate the occurrence of urinary tract infections in pregnant women. Material and methods: The urinary pathogens and their antibiotic susceptibility patterns were recorded for this study. Clean catch midstream urine sample was collected in sterile container from pregnant women from the antenatal clinic. Microscopy was done and each sample was processed on blood agar and MacConkey agar. Culture positive result was given if the number of bacterial colony grown on culture media exceeded 105 colony forming units (CFU) per ml of urine in case of clean catch midstream urine but based on type of urine sample (straight catheterisation) submitted and clinical history (acute urethral syndrome, antibiotic therapy) of the patient, lower colony counts (103 CFU/ml) were also considered significant in some cases. Bacterial identification was done by colony morphology, Gram staining and standard biochemical tests. Results: A total of 250 urine samples were received from pregnant women and processed in Microbiology laboratory during the study period. Among 250 samples, 100(40%) samples yielded significant bacterial growth. E.coli was isolated as predominant pathogen followed by Staphylococcus aureus. Gram negative bacteria (60%) were predominantly isolated compared to Gram positive bacteria (40%). Only 3(6.67%) isolates of E.coli were sensitive to ampicillin and 33 (73.33%) were sensitive to nitrofurantoin. Conclusion: This study showed that a little more than one-third of the pregnant women had UTI. It was also observed that E. coli was the most frequently isolated bacteria. Due to rising antibiotic resistance among uropathogens, it is necessary to have local hospital based knowledge of the uropathogens and their antibiotic sensitivity patterns. All pregnant women should be screened for UTI with a urine culture and treated with antibiotics if the culture is positive.