Frequency of urinary tract infection among pregnant women attended in the emergency department of the District Hospital of Santa Rita, Paraguay, first half of 2025
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22163988Keywords:
urinary tract infections, pregnancy, bacteriuria, pyelonephritis, epidemiology, ParaguayAbstract
Introduction: Urinary tract infection is one of the most frequent infectious complications of pregnancy. Its frequency in district hospitals of inland Paraguay has hardly been described. The aim was to describe the frequency of urinary tract infection recorded among pregnant women attended in the obstetric-gynecologic emergency service of the District Hospital of Santa Rita during the first half of 2025, with its distribution by age, trimester and clinical form and the antibiotics used. Materials and methods: Observational, descriptive, retrospective study from HIS-Py clinical records. 1,700 encounters were reviewed; 335 pregnant women were identified and 38 records with urinary tract infection, summarized with frequencies, without hypothesis testing. Results: The frequency of urinary tract infection was 11.3% (38 of 335). Mean age was 23.1 +/- 6.5 years and 25 pregnant women (65.8%) were younger than 25; diagnosis was made in the third trimester in 23 cases (60.5%). Cystitis was the most frequent form (17; 44.7%), followed by asymptomatic bacteriuria (11; 28.9%) and acute pyelonephritis (3; 7.9%). Antibiotic treatment was recorded in 32 cases (84.2%), with cefixime as the most prescribed drug. No urine-culture result was found. Conclusions: Urinary tract infection affected about one in nine pregnant women attended, predominantly young women, in the third trimester and with cystitis, and with empirical treatment without microbiological support. The findings support access to urine culture, better clinical recording and strengthening bacteriuria screening in prenatal care.References
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