Virulence and antimicrobial resistance of common urinary bacteria from asymptomatic students of Niger Delta University, Amassoma, Bayelsa State, Nigeria

BACKGROUND: Asymptomatic bacteriuria frequently occurs among all ages with the possibility of developing into urinary tract infections, and the antimicrobial resistance patterns of the etiologic organisms are essential for appropriate therapy. Thus, we investigated the virulence and antimicrobial resistance patterns of common urinary bacteria in asymptomatic students of Niger Delta University, Amassoma, Bayelsa State, Nigeria in a cross-sectional study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Clean catch mid-stream early morning urine samples collected from 200 asymptomatic University students of aged ranges 15–30 years were cultured, screened and common bacteria were identified using standard microbiological procedures. The isolates were screened for hemolysin production and their susceptibility to antibiotics was determined using standard disc assay method. RESULTS: A total prevalence rate of 52.0% significant bacteriuria was detected and it was significantly higher among the female with a weak association (χ(2) = 6.01, phi = 0.173, P = 0.014). The Klebsiella pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus isolates were most frequently encountered among the isolated bacteria and 18 (12.7%) of all the bacterial isolates produced hemolysins. All the bacterial isolates exhibited 50–100% resistance to the tested beta-lactam antibiotics, tetracycline and co-trimoxazole. The isolated bacteria were 85-100% multi-drug resistant. However, most of the isolates were generally susceptible to gentamicin and ofloxacin. The phenotypic detection of extended-spectrum beta-lactamases was 9 (9.6%) among the tested Gram-negative bacterial isolates. CONCLUSIONS: The observed high proportions of multidrug resistant urinary bacteria among asymptomatic University students call for the need of greater control of antibiotic use in this study area.