Bacterial abundance and antimicrobial resistance patterns of uropathogens among pregnant women with asymptomatic bacteriuria: Association with glycemic status

Objectives

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR), a growing global menace, poses a significant threat to maternal and fetal health. Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) causes double trouble in pregnancy, increasing the risk of a variety of infectious morbidities while also raising the possible association with AMR. Asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) is a common problem in pregnancy, but little research has been done to date explicitly examining the relationship between GDM and ASB and yielded conflicting results. Even fewer studies have specifically examined the relationship between GDM and AMR in women with ASB. Retrieving the most recent information on the disease burden, the range of causative pathogens, their patterns of AMR, and associated risk factors in pregnant women is crucial to stop the exponential rise in AMR in pregnancy and improve maternal and neonatal outcomes of infectious morbidities. Hence, this study was planned to investigate the association between glycemic status and the contemporary bacterial profile, antimicrobial resistance(AMR), and associated variables among pregnant women with ASB

Study design

This prospective, hospital-based, cross-sectional study was conducted among 320 pregnant women; divided into two groups, GDM and non-GDM. Data regarding sociodemographic and clinical characteristics were collected using a structured questionnaire. Clean-catch midstream urine samples were investigated for the presence of significant bacterial uropathogens and their AMR pattern was determined using recommended culture methods.

Results

We found ASB in 46.25% of study participants with significantly higher occurrence in the GDM group. Dominant isolates were Escherichia coli followed by Klebsiella pneumoniae. AMR was noted in 51.35% and multidrug resistance(MDR) in 23.65% of isolates. Overall AMR, MDR and higher degrees of AMR were higher among uropathogens isolated from the GDM group as compared to the non GDM group, although the difference was not statistically significant.

Conclusion

The high occurrence of ASB in pregnancy along with substantially high AMR in this study suggests the need for effective infection control and stewardship programmes. By defining the association of ASB and AMR with hyperglycemia, our study calls for the exploitation of this potential association in halting the pandemic of AMR and in improving the management of infectious morbidities, thus in-turn alleviating their undesired maternal and infant outcomes.