Do Antibiotics Clear Bladder Infections?

Reid, Gregor

From the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada

Accepted February 25, 1994.

Supported by the Rick Hanson Man in Motion Fund and the Medical Research Council of Canada.

Journal of Urology 152(3):p 865-867, September 1994. | DOI: 10.1016/S0022-5347(17)32592-2

ABSTRACT

An examination of transitional bladder epithelial cells from 69 urine specimens from 23 spinal cord injury patients showed the presence of adherent bacterial biofilms in 66 cases (96%). All patients were receiving antimicrobial therapy, primarily trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (41 of 69), without any apparent effect on the bladder colonization. The large number of bacteria that emerged with highly virulent and potentially multi-drug resistant characteristics, especially Enterococcus faecalis (33% of isolates), was of concern. These findings raise questions about the proved efficacy and effectiveness of antibiotics against uropathogenic biofilms adherent to tissues.