Isolation and Identification of Pathogenic Bacteria from Urinary Tract Infection in Patients Attending Rwanda Military Hospital

Background: About 150 million people worldwide are diagnosed with urinary tract infection every year and more than half of women will get at least one in their lifetimes. Overuse and misuse of antibiotics have contributed to the growing problem of resistance amongst uropathogenic bacteria making it hard to treat UTIs. There is an increasing prevalence of antibiotic resistance and that’s why area-specific monitoring studies to document the microorganisms causing UTIs and their antimicrobial susceptibility is mandatory for helping the selection of an effective empirical treatment. Aim: The present study aimed to determine bacteria causing UTIs and their antibiotic susceptibility patterns among patients attending Rwanda military hospital. Methodology: The study was a cross-sectional study and a total number of 118 patient’s urine samples were tested in microbiology Lab. Results: Most frequently isolated bacteria to cause UTIs in this study was E. coli (59%) followed by Klebsiella pneumonia (16%), S. aureus (6%), Citrobacter freundii (5%), Proteus spp. (3%), S. Saprophyticus (3%), Streptococcus spp. (3%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (2%), Klebsiella oxytosa (2%) and Acinetobacter baumanii (2%). Meropem, imipem, gentamicin and cefotaxime were the most effective antibiotics in susceptibility testing. Thus, ciprofloxacin, sulfamethoxazole and norfloxacin were mostly developed resistance to isolated bacteria. Conclusion: The study recommended that the ministry of health in Rwanda should establish the commission or government body which will be in charge of controlling use of antibiotics properly and fighting against drugs resistance in Rwanda. Keywords: Pathogenic bacteria, Urinary tract infections, E.coli, Antibiotics