Asymptomatic Bacteriuria is Harmless and Even Protective: Don't Treat if You Don't Have a Very Specific Reason

Asymptomatic bacteriuria prior to partial and radical nephrectomy: To screen or not to screen? Results from the national and multicenter TOCUS database

INTRODUCTION

In the era of increased bacterial resistance, the main strategy is to reduce the prescription of antibiotics when possible. Nowadays, it is highly recommended to screen for asymptomatic bacteriuria (ABU), prior to urological surgery with potential mucosal breach or urine exposure. Screening and treating urinary colonization is a strategy widely adopted before radical and partial nephrectomy but without any evidence. Our main end point in this study is to analyze the relationship between preoperative urine culture and the risk of postoperative febrile urinary tract infection (UTI) or surgical-site infection (SSI) in partial or radical nephrectomy patients.

METHODS

We conducted a multicenter retrospective cohort study between January 2016 and January 2023 in 11 French tertiary referral hospitals (TOCUS database). We collected the data for 269 patients including several pre-, intra-, and post-operative variables that could potentially increase the risk of postoperative UTI and SSI including preoperative urinary culture results.

RESULTS

The incidence rate of postoperative UTI and SSI was 8.9% in our study. After conducting a logistic multivariate analysis, a propensity score matching analysis, and a subgroup analysis, we found no significant correlation between the urine culture and the postoperative UTI risk [OR = 1.2 (0.5-2.7) (p = 0.7)]. Only the postoperative non-infectious complications were related to a higher risk of postoperative UTI [OR = 12 (4-37), p < 0.001)].

CONCLUSION

Our research shows that screening and treating for ABU prior to radical or partial nephrectomy seems to be unnecessary to prevent postoperative UTI and SSI.

PREVALENCE OF ASYMPTOMATIC BACTERIURIA AND ITS DISTRIBUTION BY SEX AND AGE GROUPS IN CHILDREN COMING FOR ROUTINE IMMUNIZATION IN DISTRICT PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN

Background: Asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) in not an uncommon disease in children. It may lead to symptomatic infection and later on renal damage. The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of ASB and its distribution by sex and age groups in children coming for routine immunization in District Peshawar, Pakistan.Material and methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Department of Pediatrics, Khyber Girls Medical College, Peshawar, Pakistan form March 2017 to August 2017. 146 children presenting for routine immunization were selected. Sex, age groups, age in years and presence of ASB were variables. Sex, age groups and presence of ASB were analyzed by count and percentage with 80%CL. Age in years was analyzed by mean, SD and range with 95%CI.Results: Out of 146 children, 65 (44.52%) were males and 81 (55.48%) females, and 51 (34.93%) in age group ≤3 years, 52 (35.62%) in 3.0-6.50 years and 43 (29.45%) in 6.51-10 years. Mean age of sample was 4.82±2.81 (09-9.50, range 8.60) (95%CI 4.36-5.28) years. ASB was found in 16 (10.96%) cases. Prevalence of ASB was higher 4.11% in boys than 6.856% girls. It was highest 6.85% in age group 3.0-6.50 years, followed by 2.74% in 6.51-10 years and 1.37% in age group ≤3.0 years.Conclusion: Asymptomatic Bacteriuria is quite common in our children. It is a significant health risk especially among females, and we suggest more studies to find out the underlying factors and follow up studies on its complications.

Review of the Phytoneering Research & Experience Summit (PRES) 2019 “building bridges between nature’s healing potential and evidence-based medicine - 20 years of phytoneering”

This brief communication summarizes the key highlights presented at the 2019 Phytoneering Research and Experience Summit held at the Palma Convention Centre and the educational finca Sa Canova (Majorca, Spain) from the 25th to the 27th of July 2019.

More than 100 professionals from academia, industry and public services took part. The scientific programme included three dedicated symposium sessions and a moderated poster session. In total, 13 oral communications and 23 posters were presented.

The invite-only conference, entitled: “Phytoneering Research & Experience Summit (PRES) 2019 - Building bridges between nature’s healing potential and evidence-based medicine - 20 years of phytoneering”, had participants from 20 different nations, reflecting the international character of the event. This participant group included researchers as well as clinicians with different fields of interest, e.g. gynaecology, urology, respiratory diseases and paediatrics. They all share an interest in evidence-based phytotherapy and phytoneering, which is the combination of ancient knowledge about medicinal plants and state-of-the-art technology to produce evidence-based herbal medicine. This approach offers solutions to reduce the growing number of unnecessarily prescribed antibiotics in the above-mentioned areas, with the aim of preventing further progression of antibiotic resistance. The conference was sponsored by Bionorica® SE.