Antimicrobial Resistance Patterns of Urinary Tract Infection Pathogens at Victoria Chitepo Provincial Hospital Laboratory from January to December 2023

Abstract

This study was carried out to identify the antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of urinary tract bacteria isolated at Victoria Chitepo Provincial Hospital Laboratory from January 2023 to December 2023. The study was a retrospective study that was and the study population were all the patients attending Victoria Chitepo Provincial Hospital who had tested positive for urinary tract bacterial infection. The sample size for this study was 385 participants and random sampling method was used to select the participants. This study showed that more females (56.4%) were affected with urinary tract infections than males (43.6%). Two age groups were most affected and that was the 0 to 9 years age group and the 20 to 29 age group which was were both 16.6% of the total participants. The isolated uropathogens were E. coli, K. pneumoniae, Enterobacter spp, Staphylococcus spp, Pseudomonas spp, Streptococcus spp, N. Gonorrhoeae and Proteus spp. The most frequently isolated were E. coli (27.2%), K Pneumoniae (18.4%), Staphylococcus spp (17.4%) and Enterobacter spp (12.2%). Antimicrobial susceptibility patterns were different according to the pathogens. E. coli was most susceptible to Chloramphenicol with 90% susceptibility and most resistant to Doxycycline. K. pneumoniae was most susceptible to Ceftriaxone (71%). Staphylococcus spp and Enterobacter spp were most susceptible to Ampicillin (100%) and Chloramphenicol (67%) respectively. One limitation of the study was that the antimicrobial susceptibility testing was limited to the drugs that were available at the institution and hence, there could not be a wider picture that includes the wide range of antibiotics that is used in medical settings currently. The conclusion according to the findings was that antimicrobial resistance is high and one recommendation was for the need to put measures in place that prohibit prescribing of antibiotics without laboratory tests confirming a bacterial infection as well as the antimicrobial susceptibility testing being done.