Prevalence of asymptomatic bacteriuria and its consequences in pregnancy in a rural community of Bangladesh

This was a cross-sectional followed by cohort type of study conducted among the pregnant mothers of second trimester in the rural areas of Rajshahi district. Initially 1800 pregnant mothers of second trimester were selected from 18 unions applying 2-stage random sampling. A total of 216 pregnant mothers with asymptomatic bacteriuria were paired among the rest of the healthy pregnant mothers (without bacteriuria) on the basis of age, gravida and economic status for cohort study to relate asymptomatic bacteriuria with the incidence of symptomatic bacteriuria, hypertensive disorders in pregnancy (HDP) and pre-term delivery. The matched paired pregnant mothers were followed monthly interval up to delivery. The prevalence of asymptomatic bacteriuria was 12% among the pregnant mothers in rural Rajshahi. E.Coli was the commonest causative agent of both asymptomatic and symptomatic bacteriuria. The results of this study suggest that asymptomatic bacteriuria were more prone to develop symptomatic bacteriuria, hypertensive disorders in pregnancy and pre-term delivery than that of the healthy mothers (without bacteriuria). Screening of bacteriuria in pregnancy and proper treatment must be considered as an essential part of antenatal care in this rural community.