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Patients hospitalized for serious urinary-tract infection (UTI) often receive parenteral ampicillin therapy. This retrospective study challenges the use of ampicillin as initial treatment. To identify the responsible organisms and their antibiotic sensitivities, the authors reviewed the records of 253 patients hospitalized for UTI, acute pyelonephritis, or gram-negative rod bacteremia originating in the urinary tract.
Organisms isolated from the urine were sensitive to ampicillin in only 54 percent of women under age 50, 68 percent of women 50 or older, and 66 percent of men. In contrast, organisms were sensitive to gentamicin in 100 percent, 98 percent, and 93 percent of these groups, respectively. Group D streptococci -- pathogens that are…