Urinary Tract Infections

Urinary tract infections (UTI) are the most common of all infections. It is reported that 40- to 50-percent of all women will be diagnosed with at least one bacterial UTI. Until recently, most UTIs were easily treated with standard antibiotic regimens. However, rising resistance to commonly prescribed antibiotics is making treatment of UTIs with oral (outpatient) antibiotics more and more difficult. Resistance for E. coli, the primary pathogen found in UTIs, now exceeds 20-percent in many parts of the country for first-line antibiotics. Antibiotic resistance can lead to treatment failure, return visits or hospitalization due to the infection spreading to the bladder, kidneys or beyond. Physicians need earlier antibiotic susceptibility results to guide antibiotic therapy choices.