Publication:

The trends of isolation and antimicrobial susceptibility of group B Streptococcus in urine culture: a 7-years cross sectional study

Background Group B Streptococcus (GBS)/Streptococcus agalactiae (S. agalactiae) is a common rectovaginal colonizer, thereby a potential agent of neonatal and maternal infection. This study estimates the trends of isolation of GBS, its antimicrobial profile in urine culture and the demographic characteristics of these patients over a 7-year period.

Methods A record-based study was conducted, which included all the urine culture reports of GBS/S. agalactiae from January 2014 to December 2020. The trend of occurrence of GBS bacteriuria, demographic characteristics and antimicrobial susceptibility pattern were analyzed.

Results Out of 137 urine samples which grew GBS/S. agalactiae, 55(40.15%) were from antenatal women. Most of the isolates were from females (72.26%), with a male preponderance noted among the elderly population (age>60 years). The predominant age group affected were adults between 20 to 59 years. The majority of the isolates (60.58%) were susceptible to all the four tested antibiotics, namely, ciprofloxacin, nitrofurantoin, ampicillin and vancomycin. Ciprofloxacin resistance was observed in 32.85% (45/137) isolates, 5.84% (8/137) isolates were resistant to ampicillin and 2.92% (4/137) were resistant to nitrofurantoin.

Conclusions All the isolates were susceptible to vancomycin. GBS/S. agalactiae is an important agent of bacteriuria in antenatal women as well as in non-pregnant population, especially the elderly males. Emerging resistance to various group of antibiotics warrants routine susceptibility testing.