Study of Urinary Tract Pathogens and Determination of Their Susceptibility to Antibiotics in the Residents of Lahore

Abstract

Background: Urinary tract infection (UTI) is second most common and a serious medical condition affecting millions people every year. They are the infections of urinary tract i.e. urethra, bladder, urinary ducts and kidneys. Most of these infections are bacterial,
particularly gram negative pathogen. We aim this study to identify the common pathogens leading to UTI in our local population and their antibiotic susceptibility.

Methodology: This study was carried out on the residents of different area in Lahore city between Jan and June 2016, and all research work was conducted in The Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (IMBB), The University of Lahore (UOL). About 250 samples of the all age groups were collected and investigation was made utilizing two main instruments, questionnaire and urine testing to identify microorganisms responsible for urinary tract infections to explore sensitivity patterns of identified microorganisms to certain antibiotics used in the treatment of UTI.
Results: Of all collected samples (n=250) 109 (43.6%) samples showed no growth on culture plates. Approximately 56% (n=141) were positive samples. Among the positive cases gram negative bacterial pathogens were accountable for about 86% of urinary
tract infections in contrast to gram positive bacterial pathogens. E. coli were major uro-pathogen 39.72% trailed by Klebsiella spp. 16% and Staphylococcus spp. 12%. The prevalence of Candida spp. 20% was also very high in males and females. With respect to the antibiotic sensitivity test, the results revealed that antibiotics like Nitrofurantoin, Piperacillin-Tazobactam and Imipenem for gram negative bacteria and tetracycline against gram positive bacteria, showed a low resistance rate in this study over commonly used antibiotics.

Conclusion: Urine culture is an important diagnostic tool to confirm urinary tract infections. Rules must be put on the consumption of antibiotics to limit their abuse and misuse. Pragmatic antimicrobial choice in management of urinary tract infections should be founded on facts of local occurrence of causal uropathogens in addition to corresponding antibiotic sensitivities than on international guiding principle.

Key words: Urinary tract infections, Microorganisms, susceptibility.