PREVALENCE OF URINARY TRACT INFECTIONS AND ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE OF UROPATHOGENS ISOLATED FROM PATIENTS IN THE TAMALE TEACHING AND CENTRAL HOSPITALS

Abstract

Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) is an infection in any part of your urinary system, caused by the presence of bacteria in the urinary tract (UT). Data on the prevalence of urinary tract infections and multidrug resistance of uropathogens are limited in the Northern Region of Ghana. The aim of this research was to determine prevalence of UTI among patients and the resistance patterns of uropathogens isolated from patients in a secondary and tertiary health care hospital in the Northern Region of Ghana. A total of 736 clean catch midstream urine samples were collected from patients of all age groups attending the Tamale teaching hospital and the Tamale central hospital in a period of six months, April, 2018 to September, 2018 and uropathogen isolated in the Spanish laboratory complex of the University for Development Studies, Nyankpala by quantitative urine culture on Cysteine Lactose Electrolyte Deficient (CLED) medium. Bacteria isolates were identified by their morphology and standard biochemical tests. By the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method, antibiotic susceptibility test was also done on the uropathogens using fourteen (14) antibiotics. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20 was used to analyse the data. Urinary tract infection (UTI) at both the Tamale teaching hospital and the Tamale central hospital was 36.0% and 21.4%, respectively. There was significantly higher (P≤ 0.05) urinary tract infection (UTI) among females (80.5%) than males (19.5%). Coagulase negative Staphylococcus (CoNS), S. aureus, E. coli, Serratia spp. Klebsiella spp and Enterobacter spp. were the common organisms isolated. The highest UTI was recorded among the age group of 20-29 years at the Tamale teaching hospital (35.0%) and the Tamale central hospital (54.5%), with the overall mean age of 34.28±1.29. Sterile pyuria (SP) in this research was 67.9% and more predominant in females (94.2%) than males (5.8%), with the mean age of the patients associated with sterile pyuria being 27.8±1.68. Asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) recorded at both the Tamale teaching hospital and the Tamale central hospital was 40.1% and 20.8%, respectively. Asymptomatic bacteriuria was significantly high (P≤ 0.05) among the age group 20-29 years with the overall mean age of 32.48±1.29. The highest multidrug resistance was observed with S. aureus (100.0%), E. coli (100.0%), Enterobacter spp (100.0%) and Klebsiella spp (100.0%). Uropathogens showed significantly high (P≤ 0.05) resistance to almost all the antibiotics tested. Therefore, there should be public education on consequences of misuse of antibiotics. Asymptomatic bacteria and sterile pyuria are conditions which must not be overlooked in the management of UTI infections in these hospitals owing to the high rates recorded among patients in this study.