Urinary Tract Infections among Pregnant Women in Makkah, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the most common infections where one or more part of urinary system become infected usually after bacteria overcome the natural defence mechanism of urinary tract (Al-Dujiaily, 2000). Although UTI could affect both sexes, women are more frequently affected than men due to short urethra, loss of prostatic secretion, ease of urinary tract contamination by faecal flora and various other reasons. In women however, the incidence of UTI is more frequent in pregnant women as compared to non pregnant ones due to the pregnancyassociated physiological changes, extended abdomen and difficulty of personal hygiene (Awaness et al., 2000).

The Prevalence of Urinary Tract Infection among Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Clinic at Atertiary Care Centrein AlRass, Al Qassim

“…The results revealed that 20% of the pregnant women were positive for UTI with symptomatic UTI cases more than asymptomatic ones. [8] So this prevalence was also higher than our study. Also, the number of symptomatic UTI in our study (93.5%) is more than asymptomatic cases (6.5%) which is a similar finding to this study.…”

“…This is much lower than that of Makkah, KSA (20 %). [8] However, a tertiary center in Jeddah, has reported UTI prevalence as low as 1.7%. [9] In a study conducted at the antenatal clinic of Abha General Hospital, KSA, during September 2012 to January 2013, 12.7% of 402 pregnant women were affected with UTI.…”

“…Blood-volume expansion is accompanied by increases in the glomerular filtration rate and urinary output. [8] Loss of ureteral tone combined with increased urinary tract volume results in urinary stasis, which can lead to dilatation of the ureters, renal pelvis, and calyces. Urinary stasis and the presence of vesicoureteral reflux predispose some women to upper urinary tract infections (UTIs) and acute pyelonephritis.…”

“…The mechanism of selective aminoaciduria is unknown, although its presence has been postulated to affect the adherence of Escherichia coli to the urothelium. [8]…”

Effect of Application of Health Belief Model on Pregnant Women' Knowledge and Health Beliefs Regarding Urogenital Infections

“…So, early screening and health education of pregnant women about the preventive measures of UGIs is strongly advocated. Antenatal care should include direct questioning and urine examination to discover asymptomatic cases [9,10].…”