Background: Urinary tract infections (UTI) are frequently encountered medical complications of pregnancy.
Objective: This study was aimed at analyzing the bacterial resistance in urogenital tract as well as the immunological profile
amongst pregnant and non-pregnant women at Mbouda Ad-Lucem Hospital, Western Region of Cameroon.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out from December 2015 to May 2016 at Mbouda Ad-Lucem hospital on 104
pregnant women and 24 non-pregnant women. The midstream urine from participants was analysed for the presence, isolation
and identification of the uro-pathogens, using selective and specific bacterial culture media. An antibiotic susceptibility tests
was carried out using disk diffusion method. Blood samples were collected for C-reactive protein (CRP) dosage, CD4 and CD8
lymphocytes count.
Results: Out of 128 participants in this study, a high prevalence of uro-pathogens and resistance strains was observed. The
most prevalent urinary tract pathogens were
Staphylococcus sp.
with 45% and 38.89% respectively in pregnant and non-pregnant
women.
Staphylococcus sp. showed resistance to Amoxicillin (AMO; 55.56%) and Chloramphenicol (CHL; 100%) respectively in
pregnant and non-pregnant women. Pregnant women had a significantly high average of granulocytes (p=0.009), monocytes
(P=0.001), high ratio of CD4/CD8 (p< 0.0001) and significantly low CD8 lymphocytes (p< 0.0001) average compared to
non-pregnant women.
Conclusion: This study outlines high prevalence of
Staphylococcus sp as the main urinary tract infectious pathogen in women
at Mbouda Ad-Lucem hospital. It prevalence was accompanied with resistance to the routine antibiotics treatment, and a pronounced lymphocytosis and monocytosis.
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ahs.v19i1.26
Cite as: Ndamason LM, Marbou WJT, Kuete V. Urinary tract infections, bacterial resistance and immunological status: a cross sectional study
in pregnant and non-pregnant women at Mbouda Ad-Lucem Hospital. Afri Health Sci. 2019;19(1). 1525-1535. https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/
ahs.v19i1.26 
