Microbial Milieu and Antibiogram of Female Genital Infections in a Tertiary Health Facility in Nigeria.

BACKGROUND

Vaginal infections constitute a significant health challenge for women and lead to long-term complications if not promptly and adequately treated. We aimed to determine the prevalent organisms in vaginal infections in our women and the antibiotic susceptibility of the offending organisms.

METHODOLOGY

This was a prospective cross-sectional study of 635 consecutive women attending the Obstetrics and Gynaecology clinic of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital from 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2018. Data obtained were analysed using SPSS version 19.

RESULTS

Four hundred and eight (64.3%) of the women were gynaecological patients, while the remaining 227 (35.7%) were obstetric patients. One hundred and ninety-one(30.1%) out of the total 635 study population did not have any growth of the organisms tested for in the culture assay, while the remaining 444 (69.9%) had. One hundred and forty-four of the women(22.2%) had growth of candida Albicans, 130 (20.5%) had staphylococcus aureus, 78 (12.3%) - Klebsiella species (spp), 48 (7.6%) - Escherichia coli, 30 (4.7%) - Pseudomonas species, 8 (1.3%) - Proteus species and 6 (0.9%) of the women had Streptococcus species. The commonest pathogen involved in vaginal infections in women was Candida albicans. The commonest bacterial isolate was Staphylococcus aureus and then Klebsiella species. The bacteria were susceptible to Ceftriaxone, Cefpodoxime, Cefotaxime, Cefixime, Ciprofloxacin, Dorepenem and Ampicillin. They were mainly resistant to cefuroxime, ceftazidime, Augmentin, Erythromycin and Meropenem.

CONCLUSION

Candida albicans is prevalent in our women. Staphyloccocus aureus is the commonest bacterial organism in women with vaginal infections. Empirical antibiotic treatment using Cetriazone, Cefpodoxime and Ciprofloxacin, available in our setting, may be beneficial while awaiting the culture results in women with suspected vaginal infections.