However, there seems to be lack of nation-wide consolidated data regarding the epidemiology of UTI in India. Hence, at Suburban Diagnostics, we made an attempt to try and bridge this gap and take the first step to fulfil this unmet need. We conducted a retrospective study on the epidemiological patterns and antibiotic susceptibility patterns prevailing among 24,000 urine cultures done at our lab.
Females predominate community-acquired (CA) UTI (71%)
Advancing age came across very strongly as a risk factor for UTI. We noted an almost 20% sharp rise in the prevalence of UTI, as advancing from the age group of 40-60 years to 60 and above.
The major chunk of causative pathogens was Gram-negative and of these the most commonly reported bacteria was E.coli.
Almost 60% of isolates were ESBL positive which clinically represents a more aggressive and resistant form of infection.
The urine culture report also provides the clinicians with an antibiotic susceptibility analysis detailing which are the most effective antibiotics for a particular case of UTI. This varies for every patient and helps the clinician in selecting the most effective drugs and can go a long way in improving prognosis.
Let’s understand how this antibiotic susceptibility is decided.
The antibiotic susceptibility pattern noted in our study has been shown below:
An example of how breakpoint MICs helps us decide the most appropriate antibiotic out of the ones that are sensitive.
Antibiotic | Interpretation | MIC Values | Break Point MICs |
---|---|---|---|
Cefixime | Sensitive | 2 | 4 |
Amoxicillin – clavulanic acid | Sensitive | 0.5 | 16 |
Nitrofurantoin | Sensitive | 16 | 64 |
Norfloxacin | Sensitive | 4 | 16 |
The antibiotic which shows the highest “breakpoint MIC-to-MIC” ratio is the most sensitive antibiotic and hence is the drug of choice.
Amoxycillin Clavulanic acid is the most appropriate antibiotic to be used in the above example.