ABSTRACT
Aims@#The study was designed to determine the prevalence of urinary tract infection (UTI) in pregnant women depending on their various clinical and socio-demographic factors, and to assess the antibiotic susceptibility pattern of the responsible uropathogens in a tertiary care hospital of Dhaka, Bangladesh. @*Methodology and results@#A total of 100 midstream urine samples were collected from pregnant women and different clinical and socio-demographic variables viz. age, gestational weeks, living conditions, and level of education associated with UTI were determined. Bacterial isolation was carried out using blood and MacConkey agar and identified according to their phenotypic characteristics. Antibiogram profiling of the isolates was done by disc diffusion method. From 48% of positive UTI samples, the highest bacteriuria was recorded within the age group of 26-30 years (n=19; 59.38%) and in both, 1st and 3rd trimester period (50%). There was no significant association between the studied risk factors and bacteriuria, except for the age of the pregnant women. Most predominantly isolated bacteria was Escherichia coli (n=39; 81.25%), followed by Klebsiella pneumoniae (n=9; 18.75%). In E. coli, the highest resistance was recorded against ceftriaxone (87.18%), followed by cephalexin (84.61%) and ceftazidime (79.49%); whereas K. pneumoniae showed 100% resistance to ceftriaxone and cephalexin. Netilmicin was found as the only effective antibiotic against E. coli showing 100% sensitivity. For K. pneumoniae, azithromycin, imipenem, chloramphenicol, gentamicin, ciprofloxacin, amikacin and nitrofurantoin were found as the most efficacious drugs. @*Conclusion, significance and impact of study@#As the emergence of drug resistance is ever increasing, the study necessitates the continuous surveillance of antibiotic susceptibility of uropathogens to ensure safety and better treatment to the mother and fetus.