Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Surgical site infections and antimicrobial resistance after cesarean section delivery in rural Rwanda

Velin, Lotta ; Umutesi, Grace ; Riviello, Robert ; Muwanguzi, Moses ; Bebell, Lisa M. ; Yankurije, Marthe ; Faktor, Kara ; Nkurunziza, Theoneste ; Rukundo, Gilbert and Gatete, Jean De Dieu , et al. (2021) In Annals of Global Health 87(1).
Abstract

Background: As the volume of surgical cases in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) increases, surgical-site infections (SSIs) are becoming more prevalent with anecdotal evidence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), despite a paucity of data on resistance patterns. Objectives: As a primary objective, this prospective study aimed to describe the epidemiology of SSIs and the associated AMR among women who delivered by cesarean at a rural Rwandan hospital. As secondary objectives, this study also assessed patient demographics, pre-and post-operative antibiotic use, and SSI treatment. Methods: Women who underwent cesarean deliveries at Kirehe District Hospital between September 23rd, 2019, and March 16th, 2020, were enrolled prospectively.... (More)

Background: As the volume of surgical cases in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) increases, surgical-site infections (SSIs) are becoming more prevalent with anecdotal evidence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), despite a paucity of data on resistance patterns. Objectives: As a primary objective, this prospective study aimed to describe the epidemiology of SSIs and the associated AMR among women who delivered by cesarean at a rural Rwandan hospital. As secondary objectives, this study also assessed patient demographics, pre-and post-operative antibiotic use, and SSI treatment. Methods: Women who underwent cesarean deliveries at Kirehe District Hospital between September 23rd, 2019, and March 16th, 2020, were enrolled prospectively. On postoperative day (POD) 11 (+/− 3 days), their wounds were examined. When an SSI was diagnosed, a wound swab was collected and sent to the Rwandan National Reference Laboratory for culturing and antibiotic susceptibility testing. Findings: Nine hundred thirty women were enrolled, of whom 795 (85.5%) returned for the POD 11 clinic visit. 45 (5.7%) of the 795 were diagnosed with SSI and swabs were collected from 44 of these 45 women. From these 44 swabs, 57 potential pathogens were isolated. The most prevalent bacteria were coagulase-negative staphylococci (n = 12/57, 20.3% of all isolates), and Acinetobacter baumannii complex (n = 9/57, 15.2%). 68.4% (n = 39) of isolates were gram negative; 86.7% if excluding coagulase-negative staphylococci. No gram-negative pathogens isolated were susceptible to ampicillin, and the vast majority demonstrated intermediate susceptibility or resistance to ceftriaxone (92.1%) and cefepime (84.6%). Conclusions: Bacterial isolates from SSI swab cultures in rural Rwanda predominantly consisted of gram-negative pathogens and were largely resistant to commonly used antibiotics. This raises concerns about the effectiveness of antibiotics currently used for surgical prophylaxis and treatment and may guide the appropriate selection of treatment of SSIs in rural Rwanda and comparable settings.

(Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; and , et al. (More)
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; and (Less)
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Annals of Global Health
volume
87
issue
1
article number
77
publisher
Ubiquity Press Ltd.
external identifiers
  • scopus:85112722573
  • pmid:34430227
ISSN
2214-9996
DOI
10.5334/aogh.3413
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
fae8df5c-48c0-4b42-beac-622abc728c90
date added to LUP
2021-09-27 10:44:52
date last changed
2024-06-16 19:36:04
@article{fae8df5c-48c0-4b42-beac-622abc728c90,
  abstract     = {{<p>Background: As the volume of surgical cases in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) increases, surgical-site infections (SSIs) are becoming more prevalent with anecdotal evidence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), despite a paucity of data on resistance patterns. Objectives: As a primary objective, this prospective study aimed to describe the epidemiology of SSIs and the associated AMR among women who delivered by cesarean at a rural Rwandan hospital. As secondary objectives, this study also assessed patient demographics, pre-and post-operative antibiotic use, and SSI treatment. Methods: Women who underwent cesarean deliveries at Kirehe District Hospital between September 23rd, 2019, and March 16th, 2020, were enrolled prospectively. On postoperative day (POD) 11 (+/− 3 days), their wounds were examined. When an SSI was diagnosed, a wound swab was collected and sent to the Rwandan National Reference Laboratory for culturing and antibiotic susceptibility testing. Findings: Nine hundred thirty women were enrolled, of whom 795 (85.5%) returned for the POD 11 clinic visit. 45 (5.7%) of the 795 were diagnosed with SSI and swabs were collected from 44 of these 45 women. From these 44 swabs, 57 potential pathogens were isolated. The most prevalent bacteria were coagulase-negative staphylococci (n = 12/57, 20.3% of all isolates), and Acinetobacter baumannii complex (n = 9/57, 15.2%). 68.4% (n = 39) of isolates were gram negative; 86.7% if excluding coagulase-negative staphylococci. No gram-negative pathogens isolated were susceptible to ampicillin, and the vast majority demonstrated intermediate susceptibility or resistance to ceftriaxone (92.1%) and cefepime (84.6%). Conclusions: Bacterial isolates from SSI swab cultures in rural Rwanda predominantly consisted of gram-negative pathogens and were largely resistant to commonly used antibiotics. This raises concerns about the effectiveness of antibiotics currently used for surgical prophylaxis and treatment and may guide the appropriate selection of treatment of SSIs in rural Rwanda and comparable settings.</p>}},
  author       = {{Velin, Lotta and Umutesi, Grace and Riviello, Robert and Muwanguzi, Moses and Bebell, Lisa M. and Yankurije, Marthe and Faktor, Kara and Nkurunziza, Theoneste and Rukundo, Gilbert and Gatete, Jean De Dieu and Emil, Ivan and Hedt-Gauthier, Bethany L. and Kateera, Fredrick}},
  issn         = {{2214-9996}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  publisher    = {{Ubiquity Press Ltd.}},
  series       = {{Annals of Global Health}},
  title        = {{Surgical site infections and antimicrobial resistance after cesarean section delivery in rural Rwanda}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.5334/aogh.3413}},
  doi          = {{10.5334/aogh.3413}},
  volume       = {{87}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}