This story was first published in digitalhealth.net
Urinary tract infections antibiotic-resistant
The number of urinary tract infections (UTIs) caused by drug resistant bacteria is increasing, new data shows.
The ‘English Surveillance Programme for Antimicrobial Utilisation and Resistance’ (ESPAUR) report says more than one million UTI samples were analysed last year and resistance was a ‘common’ observation.
34 per cent of the samples were found to be resistant to an antibiotic called trimethoprim, compared to 29.1 per cent in 2015.
Trimethoprim was the first choice treatment for UTIs before Public Health England (PHE) recommended switching to a different antibiotic called nitrofurantoin. Only three per cent of UTI samples showed resistance to this antibiotic, the report shows.
Inappropriate use of antibiotics, such as taking them for viral conditions, is known to fuel resistance.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recently updated its guidance for managing UTIs in children. New recommendations focus on using urine dipstick tests to identify whether antibiotics are needed.
That guidance can be viewed here - https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/CG54
Gillian Leng, deputy chief executive at NICE said: “Antibiotic resistance is one of the greatest dangers to our health, which is why we must all work together to fight it. Making sure that we use these medicines properly, only when they are really needed, is vital. And our guidance is here to help healthcare professionals navigate these sometimes difficult decisions.”
PHE's ESPAUR report can be seen here - https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/fil...
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