Prevalence of Urinary Tract Infection Pathogens and Their Antimicrobial Susceptibility Patterns at Choma General Hospital

Abstract

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are common bacterial infections that contribute substantially to patient morbidity and are increasingly complicated by antimicrobial resistance. This retrospective cross-sectional study analyzed urine culture and antimicrobial susceptibility data from 386 samples processed at Choma General Hospital between June 2024 and May 2026 using Stata version 14. Culture-confirmed UTIs were detected in 113 samples, giving a culture-confirmed UTI prevalence of 29.27%. Escherichia coli was the predominant uropathogen, accounting for 51.3% of all isolates, followed by Enterobacter agglomerans (15.9%) and Staphylococcus aureus (9.7%). Females had a significantly higher prevalence of culture-confirmed UTIs than males (p = 0.003), while patients aged 65 years and above exhibited the highest burden of infection (p < 0.001). Meropenem, ceftriaxone, nitrofurantoin and piperacillin-tazobactam demonstrated the highest effectiveness against most uropathogens, whereas substantial resistance was observed to ampicillin, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, ciprofloxacin and several other commonly used antibiotics. These findings highlight the need for routine surveillance of uropathogens and antimicrobial resistance patterns to guide empirical therapy, improve patient outcomes, and strengthen antimicrobial stewardship efforts at Choma General Hospital. Keywords: Urinary tract infections, uropathogens, Escherichia coli, antimicrobial susceptibility testing, antimicrobial resistance, Zambia.