Antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of uropathogenic microorganisms associated with vesico-vaginal fistula (VVF) patients in Abakaliki, South eastern Nigeria

The objective of this study was to review the antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of uropathogenic microorganisms associated with VVF patients in Abakaliki, South eastern Nigeria. Out of the 117 bacterial isolates obtained from 108 mid-stream urine samples of VVF patients, 72 isolates [15 (20.8%) Staphylococcus aureus, 8 (11.1%) Enterococcus faecalis, 12 (16.7%) Klebsiella pneumoniae, 11 (15.3%) Proteus mirabilis, and 26 (36.1%) Escherichia coli] were obtained from pre-surgery VVF patients, while 45 isolates [7 (15.6%) Staphylococcus aureus, 3 (6.7%) Enterococcus faecalis, 4 (8.9%) Klebsiella pneumoniae, 15 (33.3%) Proteus mirabilis, and 16 (35.6%) Escherichia coli] were obtained from post-surgery VVF patients. The bacterial isolates exhibited resistance (57.1 to 75%) to co-trimoxazole, tetracycline, amoxicillin, ceftazidime, and nitrofurantoin. Antibiogram also revealed that imipenem was the most active antibiotic against the bacterial isolates as 80 to 100% of the bacterial isolates were susceptible to this antibiotic. Our findings affirmed that VVF patients are prone to microbial colonization and these microbes showed varying degrees of susceptibility to different classes of antibiotics. Therefore, there is urgent need for constant monitoring and evaluation of antibiotics used in the treatment of uropathogenic infections in VVF patients to avoid full-blown antibiotic resistance menace which might eventually result in serious public health problem.   Key words: Antimicrobial susceptibility, uropathogenic microorganisms, vesico-vaginal fistula (VVF).