Abstract

Urinary tract infection (UTI) can be symptomatic or asymptomatic depending on factors such as etiological agent, severity of infection and health status of the infected individual. This study was aimed at determining the prevalence of asymptomatic UTI amongst students of Rivers State University. Eighty (80) urine specimens from male and female students were subjected to standard bacteriological procedures. Data obtained for age-specific total heterotrophic bacterial population (THBC) ranged from 1.26±0.04 ×10⁵CFU/ml to 3.07±0.01 ×10⁵CFU/ml. There was a significant difference (p<0.05) between the THBC for the age groups sampled. Result showed that the male gender had the higher mean value (2.56±0.01 ×10⁵CFU/ml) than the female gender that recorded 1.83±0.01 ×10⁵ CFU/ml, for THBC. There was no significant difference (p>0.05) in THBC between the genders sampled. Mean values of bacteriuria population of THBC of on-campus students were higher (2.35±0.00 ×10⁵ CFU/ml) than mean values of off-campus students (1.52±0.01 ×10⁴ CFU/ml). There was however no significant difference (p>0.05) in THBC between the places of residence. The THB population for the levels of study ranged from 1.70±0.14 ×10⁵ CFU/ml to 2.43±0.03 ×10⁵ CFU/ml for 100 and 400 levels, respectively. A total of 80 bacterial isolates were obtained with Staphylococcus aureus having the highest prevalence of 63.74%, followed by Bacillus sp (30%), E. coli (4%) and Klebsiella sp (1.25%). Though the prevalence of THB, and total coliform were higher in males, the prevalence and diversity of phenotypically identified bacterial isolates was higher in the females. The study has shown that a high proportion of students with bacteriuria are asyptomatic, and at risk of urinary tract infection (UTI). Personal hygiene, proper diagnosis and efficient treatment protocols are therefore required to check the incidence of UTI amongst students of tertiary institutions.