Urinary Tract Infections

Simple tips to prevent Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs)

A urinary tract infection (UTI) can be defined as an infection involving the kidneys, ureters, bladder, or urethra. While not all urinary tract infections (UTIs) can be prevented, experts suggest one can still reduce the risk by taking certain steps and precautions.

Fluids intake: Drink plenty of water and other liquids, but cut back on caffeine and alcohol, which can irritate the bladder. This will make you urinate frequently, which flushes bacteria from your urinary tract. If the urine appears darker than the usual very pale yellow colour, you should increase the fluid intake.

Cranberry juice has been shown to help prevent urinary tract infections.

Toilet hygiene: Do not hold your urine for a long time, urinate when you have the urge. When you’re done, always wipe from front to back to prevent bacteria from the anus entering the urethra.

Constipation: Try to avoid constipation as it has been linked to increase the chances of getting a UTI. Steps like increasing the amount of fibre in your diets, drinking plenty of water and other natural fluids can help relieve constipation.

Sexual intercourse: Take special precaution when you engage in sexual activity since it may also increase the risk as it can bring bacteria into the bladder area. Practice good hygiene by washing your genitals every day using a mild detergent and before having sex. Make sure that the bladder is emptied after intercourse by drinking plenty of water and other fluids.

Clothing: Avoid wearing tight-fitting undergarments, which is made of non-breathing materials. Instead opt for loose-fitting and cotton materials, which allows a woman’s private part to remain dry preventing from bacteria growth.

Source: Zee news

Superbug Strain of E. coli Endangers the Lives of Millions

New research shows how antibiotic-resistant strains of E. coli evolved from a single source.A single strain of Escherichia coli, or E. coli, is responsible for millions of bacterial infections in women and the elderly, according to new research released today.

The strain, H30-Rx, has the unprecedented ability to spread from the urinary tract into the blood, giving rise to sepsis, the most lethal form of infection.

The new report suggests that H30-Rx may be responsible for 1.5 million urinary tract infections (UTIs) and tens of thousands of deaths annually in the U.S. alone. Researchers say the strain poses a threat to more than 10 million Americans who suffer from UTIs.
The research, published in the American Society for Microbiology’s journal mBio, shows how this bacteria has evolved from a single strain, allowing it to get around the most potent antibiotics available.

Tracing the E. coli Family Tree
The research was led by Lance B. Price, a professor of environmental and occupational health at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services. He’s also an associate professor in the Pathogen Genomics Division of the Translational Genomics Research Institute in Phoenix, Ariz.

He and fellow researchers James R. Johnson of the Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the University of Minnesota, and Evgeni V. Sokurenko of the University of Washington School of Medicine, focused on the ST131 group of E. coli.

ST131 strains are a common cause of bacterial infections, but they have become untreatable with standard antibiotics.

The team used advancing genomic techniques to discover that bacteria in the ST131 strains are genetic clones that have all evolved from a single strain of E. coli. Using whole-genome sequencing—which spells out each molecule in a bacteria’s DNA—researchers analyzed samples of E. coli from patients and animals in five countries gathered between 1967 and 2011. They then created a family tree to trace how the antibiotic-resistant clones evolved.

“Astoundingly, we found that all of the resistance could be traced back to a single ancestor,” Price said in a statement. “Our research shows this superbug then took off, and now causes lots of drug-resistant infections.”
For example, researchers said that a strain known as H30 cloned itself into H30-R. This evolved to become fully resistant to the second-generation antibiotic ciprofloxacin, which was considered a wonder-drug when it was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1987. From there, the clones evolved into H30-Rx, which is resistant to even third-generation antibiotics like cephalosporins.

“This strain of E. coli spreads from person to person and seems to be particularly virulent,” Johnson said in a release. “This study might help us develop better tools to identify, stop or prevent its spread by finding better ways to block the transmission of the superbug, or by finding a diagnostic test that would help doctors identify such an infection early on—before it might have the chance to turn lethal.”

Dr. William Schaffner, immediate past-president of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases and a professor of preventative medicine at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, said the new research will change the way problematic strains of E. coli are handled.

“It’s fascinating that they’ve identified a dominant strain of resistant E. coli. We previously thought these strains became resistant independently,” Schaffner, who was not involved in the study, told Healthline. “Resistant E. coli are slowly yet surely becoming a problem for those of us who treat infections.”

Source: health line

New technique identifies pathogens in patient samples faster, in great detail

A team of Danish investigators has shown how to identify pathogens faster, directly from clinical samples. The research appears in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology.
The investigators used a technique known as whole genome sequencing to identify and completely characterize bacteria causing urinary tract infections. In just 18 hours, they identified the culprit microorganisms, characterized the pathogens’ patterns of antibiotic susceptibility, and identified specific strains.

“Using conventional methodologies this would have taken several days to weeks, and even using whole genome sequencing on cultured bacteria would have taken an extra day,” says Frank M Aarestrup of the Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, an author on the study.

According to the researchers, their work will help patients heal more quickly and avoid unnecessarily prolonged illness and even death. It will also help prevent outbreaks of hospital-acquired disease, and identify emerging infections.

“Rapid identification of the causative agent, and of any antibiotic resistance is crucial to choosing the correct treatment for individual patients,” says Aarestrup. “Choosing the wrong antibiotic will lead to longer infections and in the worst case, deaths.”

The investigators also identified bacteria in the patient samples that they did not detect using conventional techniques. “Lactobacillus iners, Gardnerella vaginalis, Prevotella, and A. urinae have all been implicated in [urinary tract infections], even though their precise roles as pathogens and normal colonizers of the genital tract have not been firmly established,” write the researchers. They note that by conventional methods A. urinae is rarely identified but frequently misclassified.

The ability to identify strains in patients with repeated infections enables the doctor to know whether the patient’s infection is new, or recurrent. And the typing of bacterial strains enables rapid comparison of bacteria from different patients, so that doctors can detect the spread of infections within the hospital, and identify emerging infections.

“Whole genome sequencing may still be too expensive for routine use in most clinical microbial laboratories,” the researchers write. But they predict that rapidly falling prices and automation will render it a standard technology for infection detection and control, in and out of the hospital.

Source: India Medical Times