Bacterial isolates and drug susceptibility patterns of urinary tract infection among pregnant women at Muhimbili National Hospital in Tanzania

Urinary tract infection (UTI) during pregnancy may cause complications such as pyelonephritis, hypertensive disease of pregnancy, anaemia, chronic renal failure, premature delivery and foetal mortality . This study aimed to identify the etiologic agents of UTI and to determine the patterns of antimicrobial drug susceptibility among pregnant women at Muhimbili National Hospital in Tanzania. Retrospective analysis of 200 mid-stream urine specimens processed for culture and antimicrobial drug susceptibility testing between January 2007 and December 2009 was carried out. Significant bacteriuria (> 10 5 colony forming units/mL of urine) was found in 42/200 (21%) specimens. Of the 42 isolates, the most commonly isolated bacteria were Escherichia coli 14 (33.3%), Klebsiella spp 9 (21.4%) coagulase negative Staphylococcus 7 (16.7%), Staphylococcus aureus 6 (14.3%), Proteus species 3 (7.1%) and Enterococcus species 3 (7.1%). Low rate to moderately high rate of antimicrobial drug resistance was observed against first line drugs namely, nitrofurantoin 18.7 % (n=16), co-trimoxazole 38.5 % (n=13) and ampicillin 57.7 % (n=26). Relatively low rate of resistance was seen against second line drugs: ciprofloxacin 13.6 % (n=22) and amikacin 5 % (n=20). High rate of resistance was observed in third generation cephalosporin cefotaxime 31.2 % (n=16). Of the Gram-positive organisms tested against vancomicin and methicilin, resistance was found in 25 % (n=13) and 25 % (n=4), respectively. In conclusion, E coli was found to be the common cause of UTI among the pregnant women. Low to moderately high level of resistance was found in first line drugs while high level of resistance was found in third generation cephalosporin. It is recommended to monitor the levels of resistance for nitrofurantoin, fluoroquinolone and cefotaxime and to screen for Extended Spectrum Beta Lactamase production among cefotaxime resistant E. coli and Klebsiella spp .