Background: Urinary tract infection (UTI) is frequent among diabetics, especially women. It may be preceded by asymptomatic bacteriuria.
Aim: To study the frequency of asymptomatic bacteriuria in type 2 diabetic women.
Patients and methods: Fifty women with type 2 diabetes and 50 non diabetic women were studied. In aseptic conditions, morning midstream urine specimens were obtained for microbiological analysis. The test was repeated in similar conditions during consecutive days. Urine samples were cultured in blood agar, Mac Conkey agar and CPS ID 2. Colony forming units were counted. Asymptomatic bacteriuria was defined as the presence of 100,000 or more colony forming units per ml. Leukocyturia was also quantified.
Results: There was microbial growth in 40% of samples from diabetic women and 6% of samples from controls (p < 0.01). Asymptomatic bacteriuria was present in 32% of diabetics and 4% of controls (p < 0.01). E Coli was the most frequently isolated strain, in 55% of patients and 100% of controls. Klebsiella pneumoniae was isolated in 10% of diabetics, coagulase negative Staphylococcus in 10%, Enterococcus spp in 10% and Pseudomonas aeruginosa in 5%. Leukocyturia of more than 10 cells per field, was present in 80% of diabetic women with positive culture. Women with positive cultures had a longer lasting diabetes than those with negative cultures. There was no association between urine microbiological results and glycosilated hemoglobin, fasting blood glucose, chronic complications of diabetes and treatment received.
Conclusions: This study shows a high prevalence of asymptomatic bacteriuria among diabetic women.