Bacteriuria in Pregnancy

In a racially mixed community in Gisborne, New Zealand, the prevalence of asymptomatic (covert) bacteriuria of pregnancy was 9.6%. The prevalence in Maori women was 17.1% and in non-Maori women 4.7%. There was a higher prevalence of bacteriuria in the younger women. Escherichia coli was the infecting organism in 58 of the 72 women with bacteriuria. Twenty-five (44%) of the E. coli were resistant to ampicillin and amoxycillin. Fifty-eight (81%) of the women with bacteriuria also had pyuria. In 37 of the 44 women (84%) who received antimicrobial therapy, the infection was cured. Single dose therapy was just as effective as a course of treatment. In 14 of the 28 untreated women, the infection cleared spontaneously. Four of the 28 (14%) patients in the untreated bacteriuric group developed acute pyelonephritis. More patients with bacteriuria had anaemia and a low fetal birth-weight.