Prevalence and antibiogram of multi-drug resistant Staphylococcus aureus among pregnant women attending ante-natal clinics in Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Multi-drug resistant (MDR) Staphylococcus Aureus (SA) is on the rise. The prevalence and antibiogram of MDR Staphylococcus Aureus among pregnant women attending Ante-Natal Clinics in Owerri, Imo State is being studied. Aim and Objective: The prevalence of Staphylococcus aureus (S.aureus) among pregnant women was studied using urine and High Vaginal Swab(HVS) from pregnant women attending antenatal clinics. Materials and Methods: The pregnant women attending at three hospitals; Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Owerri, Imo State University Teaching Hospital (IMSUTH) Orlu and General Hospital Okigwe. A total of 1, 197 (619 Urine and 578 HVS) samples were used. Samples were analysed in the Microbiology Laboratories of the different hospitals, within thirty minutes of collection. Results: The results revealed that 121 (19.5%) of the Urine samples haboured S.aureus while 87 (15.1%) of the HVS were positive (mean: 17.4%). Antimicrobial susceptibility tests revealed that 126 ( 60.5%) of the S.aureus isolated from both the Urine and HVS samples across the state were multidrug resistant . The predominant MAR index was 0.27 as 33.2% of isolates were resistant to 3 / 11 of antibiotics tested while the least 0.64 (7/11) was shown by 0.01% of the isolates. Generally, the highest resistance was to Ceftriazone (63.8%), followed by Gentamicin (63.0%), while Ciprofloxacin gave the highest susceptibility (95.2% ) followed by Ofloxacin (92.3%). Questionnaires revealed that 75.7% (87), 72.9%(43) and 76.5% (26) (mean: 75%) that tested positive for the organism at FMC Owerri, IMSUTH Orlu and General Hospital Okigwe respectively were asymptomatic. Result analysis revealed a significant prevalence of resistant S.aureus among these outpatients who were mostly asymptomatic and unsuspecting carriers. Conclusion: The need for routine surveillance of pregnant women for S.aureus to reduce maternal and child morbidity caused by the organism has therefore been revealed by this study. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ajms.v4i3.6221 Asian Journal of Medical Sciences 4(2013) 8-14