The Lancet: UTI Guidelines are not followed
The Lancet: Lower Urinary Tract Infections (LUTS): Management Outcomes and Risk Factors for Antibiotic Re-prescription in Primary Care .
This study (link here) states that implications of all the available evidence confirms that guidelines for investigation of UTI are not being followed, findings which chime with Forte Medical’s experience of UTI diagnosis. Simply, without an accurate urine specimen cultured to identify problem bacteria, GPs will continue to prescribe medicine to which bacteria are immune.
“Use of microbiological investigations current has little impact on prescribing. There is a need to consider recent antibiotic use to prevent re-prescription of the same antibiotic.”
Giovanna Forte, CEO of Forte Medical recently suffered a major kidney infection, borderline sepsis and (unplanned) hospital admission after her GP repeated a prescription of an antibiotic that had failed first-time.
We believe that a protocol for the investigation of urine will prevent mis-management of and unnecessary antibiotic prescribing and will continue its campaign for accuracy and prevention to prevail over cure.