UTI Treatment Is in Crisis
The way doctors treat urinary tract infections may be wrong, and antibiotic resistance is growing
Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are one of the most common bacterial infections. By some estimates, 50% of all women experience a UTI in their lifetime, and half of those women will get more than one.
The infection is thought to be caused by gut bacteria like E. coli entering the bladder, resulting in feelings of pressure, discomfort, and pain, along with a nearly constant need to pee. If left untreated, the infection can move to the kidneys and, on rare occasions, can even turn deadly. Sex can sometimes contribute to the infection, but it’s not always the cause. Anything that results in bacteria coming into contact with the urethra increases risk.
A single course of antibiotics usually clears things up, but drug-resistant strains of bacteria are on the rise, making recalcitrant infections more common. Standard antibiotic treatments fail in 25% to 35% of people who take them, which worries doctors because antibiotics are the best and often the only way to treat UTIs. Some doctors are concerned that they may one day run out of options.
“Antibiotic resistance — not just [for UTIs] but all kinds of antibiotic resistance — is a huge problem, and no one’s really…
