The Value of Screening Pregnant Women for Asymptomatic Bacteriuria and Its Impact on Maternal and Neonatal Outcome

Abstract

Background: Asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) is defined as significant growth of pathogenic bacteria of more than 10 5 CFU/ ml in urine culture without any symptoms suggesting of urinary tract infection. It has many complications on the health of a pregnant woman, her pregnancy and the fetus. Objectives: The present study was conducted to determine the prevalence, risk factors, pathogenic organisms of ASB in pregnant women, to assess antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of uropathogens and to assess maternal and fetal complications. Methodology: Urine samples were collected from 256 asymptomatic pregnant women. All samples were subjected to microscopic examination and cultivation on CLED. Colonies were identified by Gram stain and biochemical reactions. In vitro susceptibility pattern was measured by disk diffusion method. Results: ASB prevalence rate was 7.8% among the studied group. E. coli was the most common uropathogen isolated (35%). This study revealed that nitrofurantoin (90%) sensitivity, imipenem (85%), norfloxacin (75%) and amikacin (75%) were very effective against most of the urinary isolates, while most of the urinary isolates were resistant to cephalexin, cefuroxime and cefotaxime. Conclusion: Early screening, detection and proper treatment were of considerable importance to reduce maternal and fetal complications. More systematic study covering larger population is recommended to give better insights about risk factors and complications.