Plasmid Profile of Bacterial Isolates from Asymptomatic Bacteriuria among Undergraduate Students of a Tertiary Institution in Benin city, Nigeria

Personal lifestyle predisposes individuals to asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) whereas uncontrolled spread of antibiotic resistance plasmids among the implicated isolates possibly will hamper effective medical treatment. In this study, a total of fifty (50) urine samples (25 males and 25 females) were obtained from apparently healthy undergraduate students of University of Benin, Benin City, Edo state, Nigeria between September – November, 2018. Prevalence of ASB in the urine samples was determined and the implicated bacterial isolates were identified using standard microbiological methods. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing of the bacterial isolates were carried out using Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion technique. Results obtained revealed that 12 % (males) and 28 % (females) showed ASB. The bacterial isolates and their percentage frequency of occurrence were Escherichia coli (60 %), Proteus mirabilis (20 %), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (10 %) and Staphylococcus aureus (10 %). Antibiotics susceptibility tests revealed that ampicillin and augmentin showed 100 % resistance while each of the fluoroquinolones (Ciprofloxacin, Ofloxacin, and Nitrofurantoin) showed 70 % susceptibility being the highest. Considering ASB from the study population, multidrug resistant bacterial isolates which had plasmids constitute 50 % and 33 % of the isolates obtained from 67 % males and 43 % females, respectively. Based on our findings, we recommend implementation of stricter regulations in agricultural, environmental and medical applications of antibiotics especially in developing countries such as Nigeria to reduce spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria implicated in asymptomatic bacteriuria and urinary tract infections.