Abstract:
Background: Asymptomatic bacteriuria (ABU) refers to a condition in which there is positive urine culture without any manifestation of infection. People living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) are more prone to opportunistic infection including urinary tract infection (UTI) due to progressive immune dysfunction by the virus. Objective: To determine prevalence, associated factors and antimicrobial susceptibility of common isolates associated with asymptomatic bacteriuria among children living with HIV attending Care and Treatment Center at Muhimbili National Hospital. Methodology: A hospital based cross sectional study was conducted at MNH, among 300 participants who were consecutively recruited. A standardized structured questionnaire developed for purpose of this study was used to collect information and urine cultures were done. Antimicrobial susceptibility was done using disc diffusion method in every positive urine culture. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20 and a P-value of 0.05 or less was considered to be statistically significant. Results: Out of the 300 children living with HIV recruited and screen ed for ABU, 159(53%) were male. The results revealed the prevalence of ABU to be 7.7%. Female gender and children with viral load less than 1000 copies/ml had statistically significant higher odds of being positive for ABU compared to counterparts. Conclusion and Recommendation: Asymptomatic bacteriuria was observed among HIV-infected children especially female children and children with VL<1000 copies/ml. Thus screening for ABU should be routine in the work up of children living with HIV at care and treatment clinic.
