Treating Urinary Tract Infections in Healthy Women — Less Is More

Empirical therapy for urinary tract infections (UTIs) in a primary care setting is effective because most people with symptoms have bacterial infections. Unfortunately, this treatment strategy results in antibiotic prescription for about 10% of the healthy adult female population in the U.K. each year. In four linked studies conducted in southern England, researchers evaluated various approaches to therapy, trying to balance effectiveness with a reduction in unnecessary antibiotic use.

Little and colleagues examined the effectiveness of five strategies commonly used to eliminate UTI symptoms. A total of 309 nonpregnant women aged 18 to 70 were randomized to empirical therapy, begun immediately or delayed by 48 hours, or to targeted antibioti…