INCIDENCE OF BACTERIA IN FEMALE STUDENTS

ABSTRACT

This study determined the incidence of bacteria, isolated uropathogens, and established their antibiotic susceptibility patterns among female students (patients) at Lagos State University Teaching Hospital. Urinary tract infections remain among the most common bacterial infections affecting women, with anatomical factors placing females at particularly elevated risk compared to males, and rising antimicrobial resistance among common uropathogens continuing to complicate treatment decisions in Nigerian clinical settings. The study determined the prevalence of urinary tract infection (UTI) among female students (patients) in Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, determined the most common bacterial isolate causing UTIs among female students (patients) in Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, and determined the antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of the identified bacterial isolates among female students (patients) in Lagos State University Teaching Hospital. A laboratory-based cross-sectional study design was adopted, with mid-stream urine samples collected from consenting female student patients, cultured and identified using standard microbiological techniques, and subjected to antibiotic susceptibility testing using the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method. The findings are expected to guide clinicians at Lagos State University Teaching Hospital in making evidence-based empirical treatment decisions for UTI among female student patients.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

Urinary tract infection (UTI) remains one of the most common bacterial infections encountered in clinical practice, with the incidence markedly higher among women than men due to anatomical differences, including a shorter urethra positioned closer to the anus, that make ascending bacterial contamination more likely. Female students, who are typically within the reproductive age range and often navigating independent living, changing hygiene routines, and increased sexual activity, represent a population group of particular clinical interest for understanding the local prevalence, causative organisms, and antibiotic susceptibility patterns of UTI within Nigerian tertiary healthcare settings.

Recent Nigerian and regional research provides important, directly relevant context for this study. A 2025 study examining the diversity and antibiotic susceptibility of bacterial uropathogens among female students of a tertiary institution in South-Eastern Nigeria found significant bacteriuria in a substantial proportion of the urine samples analysed, with the isolated organisms displaying variable, and in several cases concerning, patterns of resistance to commonly prescribed antibiotics, reinforcing the importance of institution-specific antibiotic susceptibility data for guiding rational treatment decisions among student populations (Wata, Muhammad, et al., 2025). This concern regarding local uropathogen resistance patterns is echoed in research from a Lagos-based tertiary healthcare setting: a study assessing the prevalence and risk factors of asymptomatic bacteriuria among apparently healthy women attending the outpatient clinic of Lagos University Teaching Hospital found a meaningful overall prevalence of bacteriuria, with the researchers noting that even in the absence of overt UTI symptoms, a substantial proportion of women in Lagos carried potentially pathogenic bacteria in their urinary tract, findings with direct implications for how clinicians in Lagos-based teaching hospitals should approach screening and treatment decisions for female patients (Fowora, Osuolale, Ogunsanya, Onyeaghasiri, & Edu-Muyideen, 2021).

Taken together, this literature confirms that UTI and asymptomatic bacteriuria remain clinically significant concerns among Nigerian female populations, including students, with locally isolated uropathogens displaying antibiotic susceptibility patterns that can differ meaningfully from broader regional or international benchmarks, underscoring the clinical value of institution-specific surveillance data. It is against this background that this study determines the incidence of bacteria, isolates uropathogens, and establishes their antibiotic susceptibility patterns among female students attending Lagos State University Teaching Hospital.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

While Nigerian research confirms that urinary tract infection and asymptomatic bacteriuria remain clinically significant among female populations, including students, and that isolated uropathogens frequently display resistance to commonly prescribed antibiotics (Wata, Muhammad, et al., 2025; Fowora, Osuolale, Ogunsanya, Onyeaghasiri, & Edu-Muyideen, 2021), such evidence has typically been generated at other Nigerian institutions rather than at Lagos State University Teaching Hospital specifically. Given that uropathogen prevalence and antibiotic susceptibility patterns can vary meaningfully by locality and institution, reflecting differences in local antibiotic prescribing practices and circulating bacterial strains, clinicians at Lagos State University Teaching Hospital currently lack institution-specific data to guide rational empirical treatment of UTI among their female student patients. It is this gap that the present study seeks to address.

1.3 Objectives of the Study

1.6.1 General Objective

To determine the incidence of bacteria, isolate uropathogens, and determine their antibiotic susceptibility patterns among female students (patients) at Lagos State University Teaching Hospital.

1.6.2 Specific Objectives

i. To determine the prevalence of UTI among female students (patients) in Lagos State University Teaching Hospital. ii. To determine the most common bacterial isolate that causes UTIs among female students (patients) in Lagos State University Teaching Hospital. iii. To determine the antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of the identified bacterial isolates of UTIs among female students (patients) in Lagos State University Teaching Hospital.

1.4 Research Questions

1. What is the prevalence of UTI among female students (patients) in Lagos State University Teaching Hospital?
2. What is the most common bacterial isolate that causes UTIs among female students (patients) in Lagos State University Teaching Hospital?
3. What are the antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of the identified bacterial isolates of UTIs among female students (patients) in Lagos State University Teaching Hospital?

1.5 Significance of the Study

This study will benefit clinicians at Lagos State University Teaching Hospital by providing institution-specific evidence to guide rational empirical antibiotic treatment for UTI among female student patients. It will benefit female students themselves, by supporting more effective and timely treatment. It will benefit the hospital's antimicrobial stewardship efforts, by contributing local resistance surveillance data. It will benefit public health authorities monitoring antimicrobial resistance trends in Lagos State, and will serve as a reference for future researchers examining UTI epidemiology and antibiotic resistance in Nigeria.

1.6 Scope of the Study

This study is limited to determining the prevalence, bacterial isolates, and antibiotic susceptibility patterns of UTI among female students (patients) attending Lagos State University Teaching Hospital.

1.7 Limitations of the Study

The study's findings are specific to Lagos State University Teaching Hospital and may not be fully generalizable to other institutions or regions with different antibiotic prescribing practices and circulating bacterial strains. Laboratory analysis was constrained by the availability of the full range of antibiotic discs and reagents needed for comprehensive susceptibility testing.

1.8 Definition of Terms

Urinary Tract Infection (UTI): An infection affecting any part of the urinary system, including the urethra, bladder, ureters, or kidneys, most commonly caused by bacteria.

Uropathogen: A microorganism capable of causing infection within the urinary tract.

Antibiotic Susceptibility: The degree to which a microorganism is inhibited or killed by a specific antibiotic, as determined through laboratory testing.

Prevalence: The proportion of a population found to have a particular condition at a given point in time.

Kirby-Bauer Disc Diffusion Method: A standard laboratory technique used to determine the antibiotic susceptibility of bacterial isolates.

REFERENCES

Fowora, M. A., Osuolale, K. A., Ogunsanya, J., Onyeaghasiri, F. U., & Edu-Muyideen, I. O. (2021). Prevalence and risk factors of asymptomatic bacteriuria among apparently healthy women in Lagos, Nigeria. World Journal of Public Health, 6(4), 189–195.

Wata, I. J., Muhammad, B., et al. (2025). Diversity and antibiotic susceptibility of some bacterial uropathogens among female students of a tertiary institution in South-Eastern Nigeria. Sahel Journal of Life Sciences FUDMA, 3(1), 16–22. https://doi.org/10.33003/sajols-2025-0301-03