Background: Candiduria is an opportunistic infection. There is limited information on prevalence and factors associated with Candida spp causing candiduria among pregnant women in Zanzibar. This study aims to determine the prevalence, pattern and factors associated with Candida spp. causing candiduria among pregnant women and non-pregnant women.
Objective: The aim of this study was to determine prevalence, antifungals susceptibility patterns of different Candida spp. and factors associated with candiduria among pregnant women at Mnazi Mmoja Referral Hospital in Zanzibar-Tanzania.
Methods: This cross-sectional hospital-based study was conducted from September 2022 to April 2023. After providing their consent of participation, participants were instructed to collect mid-stream clean catch urine in a sterile wide mouthed container. Specimens cultured onto Sabouraud Dextrose agar (SDA), followed by macroscopic, microscopic examination, culture dipstick examinations and antifungal susceptibility by broth microdilution as recommended by CLSI. All laboratory data were recorded in the log book then transferred to excel sheet for cleaning and coding then transferred to STATA version 15 for analysis. Results were presented into percentages/proportions for categorical variables and median (IQR) for continuous variables. Chi2 was used to show the distribution of data and p value of < 0.05 for a particular variable was considered to be a statistical significant.
Results: A total of 398 pregnant women with median [IQR] age of 28[24-32] years were enrolled in the current study. The overall prevalence of candiduria was 9.05% (n=36), the prevalent candida specie identified was C. albican 38.89% (n=14) followed by C. tropicalis 36.11% (n=13). Candida spp. isolated show high sensitivity towards Voriconazole compared to fluconazole and Itraconazole, there is a high resistance of fluconazole by C. glabrata. Increase in gestation age (p=0.030), clinical signs and symptoms (p=0.002) and number of household members (p=0.025) were found to be associated with candiduria among pregnant women.
Conclusion and recommendation: Candida urinary tract infection is prevalent among pregnant women especially the one with increased gestation age, live in crowd environment and those presenting with sign and symptoms. Further study to document treatment and pregnancy outcome for women with Candiduria is highly recommended to inform policy makers.
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