Prevalence and in vitro antibiotic susceptibility pattern of bacterial strains isolated from tribal women suffering from urinary tract infections in District Anuppur, Madhya Pradesh, India

Abstract

Introduction: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are an increasing public health problem caused by a range of uropathogens. UTI is a major health concern among tribal women due to lack of adequate health facilities at regional public health centers and district hospitals. The objective of the study was to investigate the prevalence and antibiotic susceptibility of bacteria isolated from urine samples of tribal women suffering from UTI. Urine samples were collected from 550 tribal women who visited the Outpatient Department (OPD) of the District Hospital of Anuppur, Madhya Pradesh, India. Methods: The samples were cultured on different selective and differential media and identified by colony morphology, Gram staining and biochemical tests. Results: Out of 550 urine samples, 360 (65.45%) were culture-positive and 190 (34.55%) were culture-negative. Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus mirabilis, Escherichia coli & Pseudomonas aeruginosa have been identified as major uropathogens. K. pneumoniae is the most prevalent bacteria followed by P. mirabilis, E. coli and P. aeruginosa. The drug sensitivity analysis of bacterial uropathogens was performed against different antibiotics. The antibiotic susceptibility profiling showed that most of the isolates of K. pneumoniae, P. mirabilis and E. coli were resistant against penicillin (86.67-100%) and rifampicin (72.73-97.67%). Conclusions: Gentamycin, kanamycin and streptomycin were the most active antibiotics against the isolates of P. aeruginosa (76, 80 and 76%), P. mirabilis (76.62, 66.23 and 75.32%), K. pneumoniae (55.81, 20.93 and 44.19%) and E. coli (50.48, 37.14 and 62.86%), respectively, and may be the drug of choice for treatment of UTI in this region at present.