Prevalence and Antibiogram of ESBL-positive Uropathogenic Escherichia coli in Pregnant Women in Onitsha Metropolis, Nigeria

Download PDF

The study investigated the frequency and antimicrobial susceptibility profiles of uropathogenic E. coli from pregnant women. Three hundred and thirty (330) mid-stream urine samples from pregnant women attending 2 antenatal clinics in the Onitsha metropolis were bacteriologically analyzed for the selective isolation of E. coli using standard techniques. Antibiotic susceptibility testing was carried out using the modified Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion technique. ESBL production was phenotypically detected using combined disk diffusion techniques, and confirmed using PCR technique. Of the 330 urine samples, 102 (30.9%) E. coli isolates were isolated. The prevalence of uropathogenic E. coli among the study volunteers was highest in the age group 26–35 years (37.9%), followed by those in 3^rd trimesters (35.6%). A significant frequency of E. coli was recovered from business women (39.4%), multiparous (48.6%), and those with a history of UTI infection (48%). Antibiotic susceptibility tests showed that the most effective antibiotics against the strains were ofloxacin (58.8%) > gentamicin (57.8%) > nitrofurantoin (54%) > ciprofloxacin (51%) and cefixime (49%). Fifty-three (52%) isolates were multidrug resistant whereas 66.7% had a multiple antibiotics resistance index of > 0.2. Sixty-nine (67.6%) isolates were potential ESBL producers while 21(30.4%) isolates were confirmed ESBL producers. PCR results revealed that the uropathogenicE. coli harbored the ^blaTEM (66.7%) and ^blaSHV (38.1%) genes. A 30.9% prevalence of uropathogenicE. coli was detected and was significantly associated with the participant’s age, gestation, occupation, education level, UTI history, and parity at P-value < 0.05. ^blaTEM was the most predominant ESBL gene detected.