Title : Urinary tract infections: a persisting public health concern
Abstract:
Introduction: Urinary tract infections(UTI) are still very common in community as well as nosocomial setting. It is often found to have a seasonal occurrence. They are more common in adult females as compared to males.Escherichia coli is the predominant pathogen causing UTI.
Materials and methods: We collected available information on internet and also presented our own experience regarding the common uropathogens and their susceptibility patter. Samples came from the OPD and were inoculated on CLED agar and incubated at 37°C overnight, and also observed microscopically at 40X for WBCs, crystals and bacteria.A cut-off colony count of 105 CFU per ml was taken as significant bacteriuria.
Results: UTI was significantly more common in females than males. In females, age of patients affected by UTI ranged from 3 years to 60 years. The single male patient was 68 years old. Over a 1- year period, the ratio of females:males having UTI in community as evident from OPD samples, was 13:1. Escherichia coli is the commonest uropathogen in females, followed by Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus spp. About 75% of uropathogenic E. coli were resistant to Nitrofurantoin, a common drug prescribed in OPD for UTI. All the Staphylococcus aureus strains isolated, were MRSA. In males the single uropathogen found was Enterococcus fecalis.
Conclusion: : Urinary tract infections are very common in community, and prescribing empirical drugs need to be based on antibiotic susceptibility data . Even in the community, due to illicit and over-the-counter antibiotic usage, resistance to common uropathogens is now high.
