Antibiotic Resistance Hampers UTI Treatment

Antibiotic resistance is making it more difficult to treat your common, garden variety urinary tract infections (UTIs). Resistance to β-lactam antibiotics prompted a switch in the 1990s to trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (TMP/SMX). Unfortunately, TMP/SMX is falling victim to resistance and its use is now limited. Fluoroquinolones (FQs) are the new first-line treatment choice in local areas where the TMP/SMX resistance rate is greater than 20%. In a retrospective study, researchers from Marmara University, Istanbul, Turkey aimed to identify the TMP/SMX resistance rate in their local emergency department (ED) and which empiric antibiotics were being prescribed for UTI outpatient management.