Microbiology Research Journal International

Aims: This study is aimed to ascertain the prevalence and antibiogram of bacterial isolates causing urinary tract infection in Federal Teaching Hospital Abakaliki I (FETHA I) with the view to establishing a base line for the cautious use of antibiotics in the hospital.
Study Design: Cross sectional.
Place and Duration of Study: This study was carried out at Federal Teaching Hospital Abakaliki I (FETHA I) within the period of August to December, 2014.
Methodology: One thousand patients (500 males and 500 females) presenting with UTI attending outpatient clinics of FETHA I were sampled for this study. Fresh midstream urine samples were aseptically collected in sterile containers from the subjects and plated on different bacteriological media. Organisms growing on the media were purified and identified using microbiological standards.
Results: A total of 262 (52.8%) of the females while 156 (31.2%) are males positive for UTIs. The UTI prevalence rate was 42.0% in all patients; however, the prevalence rate was significantly higher in females than in males (females: 52.8%; males: 31.2%; P = 0.000), hence the χ² test for trend results showed significant variations (P < 0.05) between the female to male ratio variables. Bacterial isolates were obtained from the females positive for UTI namely Escherichia coli (35.8%), followed by Staphylococcus aureus(18.2%), Proteus species (8.0%), Klebsiella species (7.3%), Enterobacter species (7.3%), Streptococcus viridans (1.5%), Streptococcus pyogenes (1.5%) and Citrobacter species (1.5%). In males positive for UTIs the following organisms were isolated E. coli (54.3%), followed by S. aureus (18.5%), Enteroccus faecalis (1.2%) and Staphylococcus saprophyticus (1.2%). The isolates were subjected to susceptibility test using the commonly prescribed antibiotics in the hospital. The result of susceptibility testing showed that more than 60% of the isolates to Ceftriaxone and Perfloxacin, while more than 40.0% were susceptible to Gentamycin, Ciprofloxacin and Nitrofuratoin. Very low susceptibility levels were observed with Tetracyline (16.7%), Chloramphenicol (16.7%) and Amoxicillin (16.7%), while Fluclozacillin had the lowest. S. saprophyticus(0.83%) showed the highest multiple antibiotic resistance (MAR) index (0.83%), followed by S. epidermidids (0.75%), Enterococcus species (0.75%), S. viridanis (0.33%) and Citrobacter species (0.33%).
Conclusion: Our findings showed high prevalence of antibiotic resistant urinary tract pathogens and therefore calls for urgent antibiotic review in the treatment of UTIs among patients within FETHA I Abakaliki.