ABSTRACT
Certain populations have a high risk of UTI. Institutionalized elderly populations may have incidences of bacteriuria approaching 30% in men and 50% in women. Instrumentation of the urinary tract, particularly the use of chronic indwelling urethral drainage, leads to its rapid colonization. The risk of development of bacteriuria with the use of an indwelling urinary catheter increases from approximately 5% per day for the first few days of instrumentation to nearly 100% by 4 weeks. Although the vast majority of episodes of UTI in otherwise healthy hosts are relieved with relatively few interventions, acute urinary infection either recognized or unrecognized may occasionally progress to more serious upper urinary tract involvement leading to acute pyelonephritis, perinephric abscess, and bacteremia. The emergence of resistance to commonly prescribed antimicrobial agents has caused particular concern.
