Microbiological outcomes in women with diabetes and untreated asymptomatic bacteriuria.

BACKGROUND: Asymptomatic bacteriuria is common in diabetic women. Treatment of asymptomatic bacteriuria is not beneficial, but the natural history of the microbiology of asymptomatic bacteriuria has not been well described. OBJECTIVE: To describe the microbiological outcomes of bacteriuria in diabetic women with untreated asymptomatic bacteriuria. METHODS: Study subjects were initially identified through ambulatory endocrinology clinics. They were enrolled if they had two positive urine cultures > or = 10(8) cfu/l with the same organism within 2 weeks and no symptoms referable to urinary tract infection. Women initially received a 2-week course of placebo with follow-up cultures obtained at the end of treatment and 4 weeks post-treatment. Subsequently, the prevalence of bacteriuria was determined with urine cultures obtained every 3 months to a maximum of 36 months. Outcomes at yearly intervals were designated as one of: persistent bacteriuria; spontaneous resolution; resolution with antibiotics for symptomatic urinary infection; or resolution with antibiotics given for other indications. Women with and without persistent or frequent bacteriuria were compared to identify variables associated with bacteriuria. RESULTS: The prevalence of bacteriuria in the study cohort declined to about 50% by 9 months, and subsequently remained stable throughout 3 years follow-up. Almost 20% of subjects remained bacteriuric with the original infecting organism throughout the period of observation. With evaluation at 12-month intervals, approximately one-quarter of subjects had each of the four potential outcomes of: resolution following antibiotic therapy for symptomatic urinary infection, following antibiotic therapy for other indications, spontaneous resolution without antibiotics, and persistent bacteriuria with the same organism. Women infected with gram-negative organisms were more likely to have persistent bacteriuria. Many women with resolution of initial bacteriuria, with or without antibiotics, became bacteriuric again during follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Women with asymptomatic bacteriuria and diabetes tend to have persistent or recurrent asymptomatic bacteriuria. Bacteriuria is benign, and seldom permanently eradicable.

Use of administrative healthcare claims to examine the effectiveness of trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole versus fluoroquinolones in the treatment of community-acquired acute pyelonephritis in women.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and fluoroquinolones in the treatment of community-acquired acute pyelonephritis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We identified a population-based cohort of non-pregnant women aged 18-65 years, initially treated with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole or a fluoroquinolone for community-acquired pyelonephritis in an ambulatory care setting. Subjects were identified from a healthcare claims database in Manitoba, Canada for the period 15 February 1996 to 31 March 1999. Subsequent treatment failure, as evidenced by the provision of additional treatment up to 42 days post-diagnosis, was compared between the two treatments. RESULTS: A total of 1084 women met inclusion criteria: 653 (60.2%) treated with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and 431 (39.8%) treated with a fluoroquinolone. Treatment outcomes were affected by subject age. At age 20, treatment with a fluoroquinolone resulted in a reduced probability of treatment failure compared with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (odds ratio, 0.56; 95% CI, 0.33-0.97). At age 60, there was no difference in the probability of treatment failure (odds ratio, 1.61; 95% CI, 0.82-3.16). No other subject characteristics impacted comparative effectiveness; however, several characteristics increased the odds of treatment failure irrespective of the initial antibiotic. These included: recent urinary tract infection (odds ratio, 2.07; 95% CI, 1.14-3.57), recent antibiotic use (odds ratio, 1.40; 95% CI, 1.00-1.96;), and a treatment duration of less than 10 days (odds ratio, 2.18; 95% CI, 1.59-2.99). CONCLUSION: Younger subjects ( approximately 20 years) treated with fluoroquinolones were less likely to experience treatment failure than those treated with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. Treatment durations of less than 10 days resulted in a higher probability of treatment failure regardless of the initial antibiotic.

The diagnosis of Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea: comparison of Triage C. difficile panel, EIA for Tox A/B and cytotoxin assays.

This study prospectively compared; Triage(R) C. difficile test (TCT), TechLab C. difficile toxin A-B enzyme immuno-assay (EIA), and cell-culture cytotoxin test (CT). Of the 400 stools tested, 99 were positive by any test with 92, 41 and 58 detected by TCT, EIA and CT, respectively. Culture of discordant samples indicated that 52 contained C. difficile (42 toxigenic, 10 non-toxigenic), 10 contained Clostridium species and 2 had no detectable clostridium isolates. There were 21/42 toxigenic C. difficile isolates from 17 patients whose stools were negative when originally tested by CT. Review of available patient charts indicated that 12/14 did not previously or currently have C. difficile associated diarrhea, whereas 2 patients developed disease within a few days. Compared to CT as the gold standard, the sensitivity and specificity were; 93%, 89% and 66%, 99% for TCT and EIA respectively. The 8 stool samples with Toxin A(-) Toxin B(+) isolates were detected in 8, 4, and 6 samples by TCT, EIA and CT, respectively. In summary, TCT as a screening test allowed reliable reporting for 85% of stools on the day of receipt. For the 15% of stools requiring further testing we recommend the use of CT.