A STUDY ON THE PREVALENCE OF ASYMPTOMATIC BACTERIURIA AND THEIR ANTIBIOGRAM PATTERN AMONG PREGNANT WOMEN IN A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL

BACKGROUND: Asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) is common in pregnancy, if left untreated it may lead to adverse maternal and fetal complications like abortion, premature delivery and low birth weight. Early diagnosis and treatment have reduced the risk of pyelonephritis in pregnant women with ASB from 20-30% to 2-4% Increasing Resistance trends of uropathogens to commonly prescribed first line antibiotics has posed a great threat with limited therapeutic options. AIMS & OBJECTIVES: The present study was carried out to determine the prevalence of asymptomatic bacteriuria in pregnant women attending antenatal clinic of our tertiary care hospital and also to study the bacteriological profile and determine antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of the pathogens responsible for Asymptomatic Bacteriuria. SETTINGS & DESIGN: A Cross sectional study. METHODS & MATERIALS: Midstream urine samples from 281 pregnant women without urinary symptoms who attended antenatal clinic during March 2012 and March 2013 were included in this study. Samples were processed and isolates were identified as per the CLSI guidelines. Antibiotic susceptibility was done by Kirby bauer disk diffusion method. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of ASB was 13.87%. There was no significant association of ASB occurrence with respect to age (P>0.05). A significant association with gravid status and trimester (P<0.001) was observed. Escherichia coli was the most predominant with total 26 (66.66%) followed by Staphylococcus aureus 6(15.38%), Klebsiella pneumoniae 5(12.82%) and CONS 2(5.13%). Amoxicillin (96%), Norfloxacin (84%), ceftriaxone (89%) and Augmentin (94%) were found to be the most effective antibiotics against the uropathogens isolated. CONCLUSIONS: Our study revealed that Asymptomatic bacteriuria is not uncommon in our population studied. Keeping in view that screening, often prevents severe complications, we emphasize the need to include urine culture as a part of antenatal care in order to identify any unsuspecting infection. Increasing antibiotic resistance trends of ASB uropathogens indicate that it is imperative to rationalize the use of antibiotics.