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Is a chlorhexidine reaction test better than dipsticks to detect asymptomatic bacteriuria in pregnancy?

Detection of asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) in pregnancy is important to avert the attendant morbidities. Therefore, we assessed the use of chlorhexidine reaction to detect ASB in pregnancy. This was a prospective study, which compared chlorhexidine reaction with dipstick tests and urine culture in 150 asymptomatic pregnant women. Urine cultures detected bacteriuria in seven women (4.7%). Chlorhexidine detected ASB in 72 women (48%) and had sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of 100%, 54% and 56%, respectively. Leucocyte esterase (LE) and nitrite detected bacteriuria in 31 (20.7%) women and 12 (8.0%) women, respectively. Singly, LE had a sensitivity and specificity of 14.3% and 79%, respectively, while nitrite's sensitivity and specificity was 42.9% and 93.7%, respectively. Combined, LE and nitrite had better sensitivity (97.9%) and accuracy (94%). Since the accuracy of chlorhexidine is low, other than urine culture, combined dipstick urinalysis of leucocyte esterase and nitrite tests is good to detect asymptomatic bacteriuria in pregnancy.