Which bacteria are found in Belgian women with uncomplicated urinary tract infections in primary health care, and what is their susceptibility pattern anno 95-96?

Dysuria is a frequent reason for encounter in general practice and also gynaecologists and urologists will be frequently confronted with it. In female patients 1/2 to 2/3 of dysuric episodes are due to urinary tract infections. In nearly all cases therapy is started before the result of a culture is available. Therefore it is very important to know which bacteria are most prevalent in the treated population, and what their susceptibility pattern is. Because most available information is based on retrospective data issued from very mixed populations, we performed a prospective study including the most frequently involved population: symptomatic adult women without any symptom of complicated UTI. Among 279 urine specimens collected in general practices, 164 were positive (59%). The most frequent microorganism found was E.coli (78%), followed by S.saprophyticus (9%) and Proteus spp. (4%). In the 15 remaining specimens, 8 different bacterial species were found. Overall resistance to ampicillin was 30%, to cotrimoxazole 14%, to nitrofurantoin 7%, to fluoroquinolones 1%. The E.coli resistance to ampicillin was 27%, to co-trimoxazole 17%, to nitrofurantoin 1% and to fluoroquinolones 1%. In this population the same bacteria, in the same proportion, are found as in earlier studies in other countries. The susceptibility pattern confirms a substantial resistance level to ampicillin and co-trimoxazole. On the contrary, resistance to nitrofurantoin and fluoroquinolones is negligible. Resistance data from Belgian regional laboratories in their outpatient population were significantly different from ours.