Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Nov 6;23(1):572.
doi: 10.1186/s12905-023-02746-w.

Bacterial isolates and antibiotic susceptibility among women with abnormal vaginal discharge attending the gynecology clinic at a tertiary hospital in southwestern Uganda: a cross-sectional study

Onesmus Magezi Ahabwe  1 , Taseera Kabanda  2 , Lenard Abesiga  3 , Julius Mugisha  3 , Musa Kayondo  3 , Joseph Ngonzi  3 , Rodgers Tugume  3 , Collins David Agaba  3 , Onesmus Byamukama  3 , Leevan Tibaijuka  3 , Henry Mark Lugobe  3
Affiliations

Bacterial isolates and antibiotic susceptibility among women with abnormal vaginal discharge attending the gynecology clinic at a tertiary hospital in southwestern Uganda: a cross-sectional study

Onesmus Magezi Ahabwe et al. BMC Womens Health. .

Abstract

Background: Abnormal vaginal discharge is a common complaint among women of reproductive age, affecting about one- third of all women. In resource-limited settings where access to laboratory services is limited, treatment is usually syndromic. This approach may result in ineffective treatment, with high recurrence rates and a potential of developing antibiotic resistance. This study aimed to determine the bacterial isolates and antibiotic susceptibility among women with an abnormal vaginal discharge attending the gynecology clinic at a tertiary hospital in Southwestern Uganda.

Methods: We conducted a hospital based cross-sectional study among 361 women aged 15-49 years, presenting with abnormal vaginal discharge at the gynecology clinic of Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital from December 2020 to June 2021. Demographic characteristics were collected using a structured questionnaire. We collected cervical and vaginal sterile swabs and subjected them to wet preparation and gram stain. The specimens were cultured for bacterial isolates. Susceptibility testing was performed on samples with bacterial isolates using the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method, on the commonly prescribed antibiotics in this setting. We summarized and described the bacterial isolates and antibiotic susceptibility patterns as frequencies and percentages.

Results: We enrolled 361 women with abnormal vaginal discharge. Bacteria were isolated in 29.6% (107/361) of the women, and the commonest isolates included; Staphylococcus aureus 48.6% (52/107), Klebsiella pneumoniae 29.9% (32/107) and Enterococcus faecalis 15% (16/107). Yeast cells were found in 17.7% (64/361) of the women with abnormal vaginal discharge. Cefuroxime (90.7%) and Ciprofloxacin (81.3%) had a high level of sensitivity while high levels of resistance were observed for Doxycycline (86.0%) and Azithromycin (67.0%).

Conclusion: The common bacterial isolates were Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Enterococcus faecalis. The isolated bacteria were most sensitive to Cefuroxime and Ciprofloxacin but resistant to Doxycycline and Azithromycin. There is need for routine culture and susceptibility testing of women with abnormal vaginal discharge so as to guide treatment, minimize inappropriate antibiotic use and consequently reduce antibiotic resistance.

Keywords: Abnormal vaginal discharge; Antibiotic susceptibility; Antimicrobial resistance; Bacterial isolates; Mbarara.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Bar graph showing bacterial isolates from women with abnormal vaginal discharge (n = 107)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Organization WH. Simplified approaches for sexually transmitted disease (STD control at the primary health care (PHC level: report of a WHO working group, Geneva, 24–28 September 1984. World Health Organization, 1985.
    1. Fonseca TM, Cesar JA, Mendoza-Sassi RA, Schmidt EB. Pathological vaginal discharge among pregnant women: pattern of occurrence and association in a population-based survey. Obstet Gynecol Intern. 2013;2013:590416. doi: 10.1155/2013/590416. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Saleh AM, Abdalla HS, Satti AB, Babiker SM, Gasim GI, Adam I. Diagnosis of Trichomonous vaginalis by microscopy, latex agglutination, diamond’s media, and PCR in symptomatic women, Khartoum, Sudan. Diagn Pathol. 2014;9(1):49. doi: 10.1186/1746-1596-9-49. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Castellano Filho DS, Diniz CG, Silva VL. Bacterial vaginosis: clinical, epidemiologic and microbiological features. HU Revista. 2010;36(3).
    1. MoH-Uganda. Uganda Clinical Guidelines: National Guidelines for Management of Common Conditions. 2016. p. 272–6.

Publication types

Substances