Epidemiology of pathogens causing urinary tract infections in an urban community in southern Brazil

Publication date: Available online 5 December 2018Source: The Brazilian Journal of Infectious DiseasesAuthor(s): Carlos E. Reu, Waldemar Volanski, Karoline C. Prediger, Geraldo Picheth, Cyntia M.T. Fadel-PichethAbstractThe frequency of urinary tract infection (UTI) and uropathogens in the community was determined by assessing urine culture results of outpatients at a Brazilian public laboratory in a year period. Patients were classified according to sex and age; women were additionally classified considering pregnancy or diabetes. Cultures were considered positive when growing pure cultures with colony counts>104 CFU/mL. Of the 64,562 urine cultures performed 11,122 (17.2%) turned out positive. UTI was significantly more common among women; however, its frequency varied among patient subgroups. The most common uropathogens were Escherichia coli (54.7%), Streptococcus agalactiae (18.8%), and Proteus mirabilis (5.6%). E. coli frequency was higher among women; even though pregnant women showed a lower incidence (41.1%), similar to that observed in adult men (40.9%). S. agalactiae was the second most commonly isolated species among women, with a higher incidence among pregnant women (31.2%). In contrast, P. mirabilis was the most common species recovered from boys (32%). These data indicate that the distribution of uropathogens varies among groups of patients suggesting that host characteristics may be associated with greater susceptibility to specific uropathogens.
Source: The Brazilian Journal of Infectious Diseases - Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: research