Authors : Pavani Kalagara, Rupali Ashok Akude
DOI : 10.18231/j.ijmr.2020.017
Volume : 7
Issue : 1
Year : 2020
Page No : 79-82
Introduction: Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the most common bacterial infections during
pregnancy. Increased risk of UTI in pregnant women is due to anatomical changes and physiological
adaptations during pregnancy.Untreated asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) in pregnancy predisposes to
symptomatic UTI in 25% of infected women.Early diagnosis and appropriate treatment of ASB curbs
the risk of pyelonephritis, ecclampsia, preterm delivery and adverse fetal outcomes.
Aim: This prospective study was conducted to determine the occurrence of ASB, its etiological agents and
their antibacterial susceptibility pattern in selected group of pregnant women.
Setting & Design: Prospective study was carried out on in department of Microbiology at ESIC medical
college, Telangana from September 2016 to March 2017.
Materials and Methods: Study population included total of 346 antenatal women of gestational ages
28 weeks or less with no symptoms of urinary tract infection (UTI) attending for antenatal checkup.
All bacterial isolates showing significant growth were identified by standard biochemical methods. The
antibiotic sensitivity testing of the isolates was be done by Kirby Bauer method according to CLSI
guidelines.
Result: Among total of 346 antenatal women screened 85.5% samples were sterile. Significant bacterial
growth was found in 38 (11%) cases. The age, gravida and trimester of participants did not have any
statistical significance on ASB in present study. Escherichia coli (42.1%) and Enterococcus faecalis
(42.1%) were most common isolates. Antibiotic sensitivity pattern of Escherichia coli revealed good
sensitivity to cefotaxime (93.75%), amikacin (87.5%), nitrofurantoin (87.5%) and cotrimoxazole (81%).
Antibiotic sensitivity pattern of Enterococcus faecalis showed good sensitivity of 75% to nitrofurantoin
and 67.5% to ampicillin, ciprofloxacin and high level gentamicin. Staphylococcus aureus showed 100%
sensitivity to betalactam antibiotics and aminoglycoside.
Conclusion: Every pregnant woman in each trimester should have a urine culture done and detected cases
should be treated according to the antibiotic susceptibility test in order to reduce the perinatal and maternal
morbidity and mortality.
Keywords: Urinary tract infection (UTI), Asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB), Antibiotic sensitivity testing (AST), Colony count per milliliter of urine (CFU/ml).