Bacterial Urinary tract infections (UTIs) occur in humans and account for 40% of hospital-acquired infections with 80% being catheter-related. This study investigated the prevalence of UTIs among catheterized patients in CHU Yaoundé and their antibiotic susceptibility pattern. A cross-sectional study was conducted from February to April 2021 at CHU Yaoundé. Urine samples were collected from 111 catheterized patients from the Emergency and Reanimation wards in sterile plastic cups. The samples were cultured on different media. Samples with more than 105 CFU/mL bacteria were considered positive and tested to 15 commonly used antibiotics. Out of the 111 participants, 41(36.9%) had significant bacterial growth. Amongst many parameters, the duration of the catheter was observed as an important risk factor (P<0.05). A significant number of the pathogens (63.3%) were isolated from the Reanimation ward (P>0.05). The uropathogens most isolated were Escherichia coli 12 (28.6%) and Klebsiella spp 12 (28.6%). The bacteria Escherichia coli, Proteus mirabilis, Enterobacter aerogenes and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (100%) showed the highest resistance to commonly used antibiotics. UTIs in catheterized patients are a major problem, and there is high resistance to commonly used antibiotics hence the need for physicians to rely on culture and sensitivity tests.

Keywords: Urinary tract infection, Catheter, Antibiotics, Cameroon.