Antibiotic Resistance Among Genital Tract Isolates from Sexually-Transimitted Disease Patients

Abstract

A retrospective study of 974 genital tract pathogens isolated from sexually-transmitted disease (STD) patients was carried out at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), Benin City, between February 2001 and September 2003. The isolates which were associated with 22 cases of gonorrhoea, 271 cases of non-gonococcal urethritis (NGU) and 681 of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) comprised Staphylococcus aureus (579), Escherichia coli (220), Klebsiella spp. (199), Proteus spp. (54) and Neisseria gonorrhoeae (22). The lack of appropriate diagnostic procedures precluded the investigation of the involvement of chlamydiae and mycoplasma in these infections. The susceptibility of bacterial isolates to new-quinolones and other antibacterial agents was determined by the use of multi-disc diffusion method. Most isolates were susceptible to ofloxacin, ciprofloxacin and perfloxacin, while most isolates were resistant to ampicillin, chloramphenicol, cotrimoxazole and streptomycin. The results of the susceptibility pattern shows that there is still a rise in the prevalence of drug-resistant pathogens in our hospitals. This could be due to inappropriate therapeutic use of antimicrobials such as unprescribed use of broad spectrum antibiotics against causative microbial agents for which antibiogram profiles had not been determined.

Keywords: Antibiotic resistance, genital tract isolates

Journal of Medical Laboratory Sciences Vol. 14 (1) 2005: pp. 63-68