Incidence of Urinary Tract Infections and Its Aetiological Agents among Pregnant Women in Karnataka Region

Abstract

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is the most common medical complications of pregnancy together with anaemia and hypertension and it occurs approximately in 5%-10% of all pregnancies. The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of UTI and prevalence of uropathogens among pregnant women. During the study period from December 2009 to August 2010, 417 urine samples were analyzed. UTI was diagnosed by growth of at least 105 CFU/ml of a urinary tract pathogen in a culture of a midstream urine sample. The isolated bacteria were identified by biochemical tests. The results showed that 49.4% of pregnant women have UTI. E. coli which was the most frequently isolated organism (56.79%), followed by Klebsiella sps (19.9%), Pseudomonas sps (6.3%), and Proteus sps (5.8%). Other pathogens isolated were Enterobacter (3.8%), Citrobacter (1.4%) and Enterococcus sps (0.9%). Of the variables examined, the highest prevalence rate was observed where, 53.3% of the infected women were in the age group 36 to 40 years, 54.15% were in their 3rd trimester; also the highest infection rate (70.2%) was observed in 7th month of pregnancy, concluding that old age pregnancy increased parity prone for UTI apart from individual hygiene and economical status.