Antibiotic susceptibility pattern of isolates from urine of students in Benue State Polytechnic, Ugbokolo, Nigeria

Background: Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs) remains one of the most common infectious diseases diagnosed in developing countries. The widespread use of antibiotics against uro-pathogens has led to the emergence of antibiotic resistant species.

Objectives: The study aimed at determining the antibiotic susceptibility pattern of isolates from urine of students in Benue State Polytechnic, Ugbokolo, Nigeria.

Materials and methods:  Three hundred and twenty seven (327) midstream urine samples from 137 (41.9%) males and 190 (58.1%) females were collected from students in hostels of Benue State Polytechnic, Ugbokolo. The urine samples were inoculated into the dried surfaces of Blood agar, MacConkey agar, Eosine Methylene Blue agar and Cysteine Lactose Electrolyte-deficient agar using a calibrated loop. The inoculated plates were aerobically incubated at 37oC for 24h. Colonies were sub-cultured repeatedly to obtain a pure culture. E. coli (ATCC 25922) and S. aureus (ATCC 25923) standard reference strain were used as control. The isolates were identified using cultural and biochemical characteristics such as Gram stain, Triple Sugar Iron agar test, methyl red, Voges-Proskauer, citrate utilization, catalase, oxidase, urease and coaulase test. The identified species were then exposed to selected antibiotics to test for their susceptibility.

Results: A high prevalence of 15.9% (n=327) was recorded in the study. Significant differences (P<0.05) were observed in the age, sex and number of isolates. Isolation rate showed female (63.5%, n=33) preponderance over male (36.5%, n=19). Isolation rate was highest in students aged 22-26 (44.2%, n=23). E. coli was the most frequently isolated organism. The Gram negative bacterial isolates showed the highest level of resistance to amoxicillin (92.3%, n=36) and SXT (92.3%, n=36) while the Gram positive exhibited the highest level of resistance to SXT (87.5%, n=7). All the isolates were however susceptible to imipenen and gentamycin.

Conclusion: The high prevalence showed by this study suggests the existence of a public health concern among the students. The fact that most of these isolates are resistant to one or more of the commonly used antibiotics calls for con