Surgical site infection and antimicrobial use following caesarean section at QECH in Blantyre, Malawi: a prospective cohort study.

Background: Surgical site infections (SSIs) are one of the most common healthcare-associated infections and preventable complication of surgical procedure; continue to threaten public health with significant effects on the patients and health care human and financial resources. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the incidence of SSIs, risk factors and common microorganisms associated with SSI and assess the practice of antimicrobial use in women following Caesarean Section (CS) at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH).

Methods: This was a hospital-based quantitative prospective study design involving pregnant women who underwent a CS between February, 2023 and July, 2023 at QECH with 30 day-follow-ups. Wound specimens (wound swabs) were collected from all infected CS wounds and processed at QECH main laboratory, and susceptibility testing was conducted using the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method with results reported only as susceptible, intermediate, or resistant and the collected data was analyzed using Stata.

Results: The overall cumulative incidence of SSI recorded at QECH during the study period was 9.61% (20 cases out of 208). Of these, 19 (95%) of them reported superficial SSI following CS. The mean age was 26.1 years with a standard deviation of 6.2. All pregnant women who underwent for CS received antibiotic prophylaxis. This study revealed that 138 (66.35%) patients received both preoperative antibiotics (ceftriaxone) and post-CS antibiotics without knowing the specific bacterial organism isolated. This study revealed that ruptured membrane had twice the incidence of SSIs compared to intact membrane (χ² = 2.0922), though not statistically significant. The majority of patients with SSIs (n = 12, 60%) were readmitted and 5 (25%) out of 20 with SSIs had antimicrobial resistance following susceptibility testing. Staphylococcus aureus was the most common organism (3, 60%) and other bacterial isolates included were Enterobacteriaceae and Acinetobacter baumanni.

Conclusion: The incidence of SSIs and inappropriate antimicrobial use following CS remains a challenge at QECH. Therefore, due to increased number of SSIs following CS with relative emergence of AMR ensure intensive infection prevention and control practices, establishing AMS program and routine surveillance of SSIs at QECH.