Assess Prior Antibiotic Exposure When Selecting Empirical Therapy for Hospital-Onset UTIs

A retrospective cohort study by Bidell, et al. (2017) characterized the impact of prior antibiotic exposure on distribution and nonsusceptibility profiles of Gram-negative pathogens causing hospital-onset urinary tract infections (UTI). Hospital patients with positive urine culture for Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and other Enterobacteriaceae ≥3 days after hospital admission were included. Assessment outcomes included the distribution of bacteria in urine cultures, antibiotic susceptibility patterns, and the effect of prior antibiotic exposure, defined as 0, 1, or ≥2 prior antibiotics, on the distribution and antibiotic susceptibility profiles of the Gram-negative organisms.

The most commonly isolated pathogens from 5574 unique UTI episodes (2027 with and 3547 without prior antibiotic exposure) were E. coli (49.5%), K. pneumoniae (17.1%), and P. aeruginosa (8.2%). P. aeruginosa was significantly more commonly isolated in patients with ≥2 prior antibiotic exposures (12.6%) compared with no exposure (8.2%; p = 0.036) or 1 prior exposure (7.9%; p = 0.025). Two or more prior antibiotic exposures were associated with slightly higher incidences of fluoroquinolone nonsusceptibility, multidrug resistance, and extended-spectrum β-lactamase phenotype compared with 0 or 1 exposure, suggesting an increased risk for resistant Gram-negative pathogens among hospital patients with urinary tract infections occurring ≥3 days after admission.

The researchers concluded that clinicians should critically assess prior antibiotic exposure when selecting empirical therapy for patients with hospital-onset urinary tract infections caused by Gram-negative pathogens.

Reference: Bidell MR, et al. Effect of prior receipt of antibiotics on the pathogen distribution and antibiotic resistance profile of key Gram-negative pathogens among patients with hospital-onset urinary tract infections. BMC Infectious Diseases. 2017;17:176