Research Article Asymptomatic Bacteriuria among Pregnant Women in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Prevalence, Causal Agents, and Their Antimicrobial Susceptibility Ketema Bizuwork , 1,2 Haile Alemayehu, 1 Girmay Medhin , 1 Wondwossen Amogne, 2 andTadesseEguale 1 1 Aklilu Lemma Institute of Pathobiology, Addis Ababa University, P.O. Box 1176, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 2 College of Health Sciences, Addis Ababa University, P.O. Box 1176, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Correspondence should be addressed to Tadesse Eguale; tadesse.eguale@aau.edu.et Received 24 April 2021; Revised 26 June 2021; Accepted 2 July 2021; Published 19 July 2021 Academic Editor: Joseph Falkinham Copyright © 2021 Ketema Bizuwork et al. is is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASBU) is an important health problem among pregnant women, particularly in low-income countries. is study aimed to estimate the prevalence of ASBU and potential risk factors among pregnant women attending antenatal care centers in Addis Ababa. It also aimed to identify causal bacterial pathogens and to assess their antimicrobial susceptibility. A health facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted from March to June 2019. Urine samples from a total of 281 pregnant women with no symptoms of urinary tract infection were tested for ASBU. Women whose urine samples carried greater than or equal to 10 5 colony-forming units (CFU) of bacteria per milliliter of urine when grown on plate count agar were considered positive for ASBU. Bacterial pathogens were isolated from urine samples of women with ASBU using standard microbiological techniques. Antimicrobial susceptibility of isolates was investigated using the Kirby–Bauer disk diffusion method on Mul- ler–Hinton agar plates. Of 281 pregnant women examined, 44 (15.7%) were positive for ASBU. Logistic regression analysis of the putative risk factors tested in the current study showed that none of them were significantly associated with the occurrence of ASBU (p > 0.05). e most frequently isolated bacterial species were Escherichia coli 17 (30.2%), Proteus 13 (23.2%), and En- terococcus 11 (19.6%). All of the E. coli, Citrobacter, and Klebsiella isolates and 84.6% of Proteus were resistant to ampicillin. All bacterial isolates were resistant to at least one of the antimicrobials tested. Resistance to three or more antimicrobials was detected in 15 (88.2%) of E. coli, 13 (100%) of Proteus, and 8 (72.7%) of Enterococcus isolates. Resistance to as many as 7 antimicrobials among E. coli, 8 antimicrobials among Proteus, and 7 antimicrobials among Enterococcus isolates was recorded. Detection of ASBU in a substantial number of pregnant women in this study warrants the need for a detailed study on possible risks of developing symptomatic urinary tract infection (UTI) and associated complications. Multidrug resistance to several antimi- crobials was observed in the majority of bacterial isolates. Regular assessment of antimicrobial susceptibility of uropathogens to commonly prescribed antimicrobials and implementation of prudent use of antimicrobials are recommended. 1.Introduction Asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASBU) is defined as the existence of bacteria in urine at a load of 10 5 CFU/ml or more in the absence of clinical symptoms of urinary tract infection [1, 2]. Although both genders and all age groups are prone to ASBU, it is more common in women due to the proximity of female urethra to the anus which facilitates colonization of the periurethral area with bacteria from gastrointestinal tract [3]. Its occurrence in women increases directly with sexual activity and in women of child-bearing age [4]. Diabetic patients, women with low level of educational status, and those with history of urinary tract infection are reported to be at higher risk of developing ASBU [5]. Pregnant women are particularly prone to urinary tract infection and ASBU due to physiologic changes associated with pregnancy like Hindawi International Journal of Microbiology Volume 2021, Article ID 8418043, 8 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/8418043