Prevalence of Multi Drug Resistant Coagulase Negative Staphylococci among some Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Clinic in Yola, Nigeria

Abstract

Coagulase negative staphylococci have been reported to be a frequent agent of uncomplicated UTI in young sexually active women, which can also lead to symptomatic infection, low birth weight (LBW) babies, and preterm delivery. This study was undertaken to determine the prevalence and characterize coagulase negative staphylococci among pregnant women in public health facilities in Yola. A total of 250 urine samples were collected from pregnant women attending antenatal clinic at Specialist Hospital and Boshang Clinic and Maternity both in Yola. The samples were cultured on cysteine lactose electrolyte deficient medium and isolates characterized using phenotypic methods. The prevalence of coagulase negative staphylococci from this study was 26.97%, Staphylococcus aureus 16.29%, and Escherichia coli 36.51%. The frequency of CoNS was highest among the age group of 36-40 years and least among 16-20 years (12.5%). CoNS isolated from this study demonstrated high susceptibility to pefloxacin, ciprofloxacin, erythromycin, ceftriaxone, and streptomycin. Some isolates showed high resistance to ampiclox, cefuroxime, and amoxicillin. About 83% of the isolates had multiple antibiotic resistance indexes greater than 0.2 with about 25% of the antibiotic resistance being plasmid-mediated. Furthermore, phenotypic screening using the double disk synergy test showed that 20 (40%) of the isolates were extended spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) producing. This study revealed the presence of multi-drug-resistant and ESBL-producing coagulase negative staphylococci among pregnant women in the study area. There is therefore the need for pregnant women to be screened for coagulase negative staphylococci to avoid complications during the gestation period.