FREQUENCY OF PROTEUS MIRABILIS INFECTION IN RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS

Objective: To assess the frequency of proteus mirabilis infections in patients of rheumatoid arthritis. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Combined Military Hospital, Rawalpindi Pakistan, from Jul 2018 to Jan 2019. Methodology: A total of 100 cases of rheumatoid arthritis with urinary tract infection were enrolled. Freshly voided urine samples were obtained and sent to the pathology lab. The serotypes of proteus mirabilis were evaluated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and immunoblotting and presence of proteus mirabilis was noted. Results: A total of 100 cases of rheumatoid arthritis with urinary tract infection were recruited. The mean age of patients was 61.22 ± 10.18 years. There were total 67 (67%) females and 33 (33%) were males. About 79 (79%) patients had sedentary lifestyle while 21 (21%) had active lifestyle. There were 41 (41%) patients had positive urine culture with proteus mirabilis while 59 (59%) had other organism involved in urine infection. Conclusion: The high frequency of proteus mirabilis infection has been detected and the frequency was of females with complaint of urinary tract infection was high.