Authors:

Abstract

Objective: To determine the prevalence of asymptomatic bacteriuria in pregnant women and antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of pathogens isolated and also to determine the relationship between asymptomatic bacteriuria and pyuria.

Methods: A total of 392 urine specimens were collected from 392 pregnant women with asymptomatic bacteriuria attending different antenatal care clinics for regular perinatal care between April, 2007 and July, 2008. All specimens were processed using standard microbiological procedures. All the subjects were evaluated for bacteriuria.

Results: The prevalence of asymptomatic bacteriuria was 6.1% among the pregnant women in Srinagar. From 92 (23.5%) patients who had ≥5 pus cells per high power field, only 15 (16.3%) had positive urine culture. E.coli (~71%) was the commonest causative agent of asymptomatic bacteriuria followed by Klebsiella pneumoniae (~17%), group B Beta haemolytic Streptococcus (8.3%) and Proteus mirabilis (4.2%). Ciprofloxacin was found to be highly sensitive against all isolates.

Conclusion: Screening of bacteriuria in pregnancy and proper treatment must be considered as an essential part of antenatal care in this community. To prevent asymptomatic bacteriuria complications, all pregnant women should be screened at the first antenatal visit. A negative test for pyuria is not a reliable indicator of the absence of asymptomatic bacteriuria in pregnant women.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/sljog.v33i4.4804

Sri Lanka Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology 2011; 33: 158-162

Keywords: asymptomatic bacteriuria,  pyuria,  antenatal care,  urinary tract infection,  E. coli