The relative importance of Staphylococcus saprophyticus as a urinary tract pathogen: distribution of bacteria among urinary samples analysed during 1 year at a major Swedish laboratory. Issue 1 (28th June 2012)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Eriksson, Andreas; Giske, Christian G.; Ternhag, Anders
• Is Part Of: Apmis. Volume 121:Issue 1(2013:Jan.)
• Page Start: 72
• Page End: 78
• Publication Date: 2012-06-28
• Subjects: Pathology -- Periodicals; Microbiology -- Periodicals; Immunology -- Periodicals; 572
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0463.2012.02937.x
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0903-4641

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" id="apm2937-abs-0001"> <title> <x xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <p>To determine the distribution of urinary tract pathogens with focus on <italic>Staphylococcus saprophyticus</italic> and analyse the seasonality, antibiotic susceptibility, and gender and age distributions in a large Swedish cohort. <italic>S. saprophyticus</italic> is considered an important causative agent of urinary tract infection (UTI) in young women, and some earlier studies have reported up to approximately 40% of UTIs in this patient group being caused by <italic>S. saprophyticus</italic>. We hypothesized that this may be true only in very specific outpatient settings. During the year 2010, 113 720 urine samples were sent for culture to the Karolinska University Hospital, from both clinics in the hospital and from primary care units. Patient age, gender and month of sampling were analysed for <italic>S. saprophyticus</italic>, <italic> Escherichia coli</italic>, <italic> Klebsiella pneumoniae</italic> and <italic>Proteus mirabilis</italic>. Species data were obtained for 42 633 (37%) of the urine samples. The most common pathogens were <italic>E. coli</italic> (57.0%), <italic>Enterococcus faecalis</italic> (6.5%), <italic>K. pneumoniae</italic> (5.9%), group B streptococci (5.7%), <italic>P. mirabilis</italic> (3.0%) and <italic>S. saprophyticus</italic> (1.8%). The majority of subjects with <italic>S. saprophyticus</italic> were women 15–29 years of age (63.8%). In this age group, <italic>S. saprophyticus</italic> constituted 12.5% of all urinary tract pathogens. <italic>S. saprophyticus</italic> is a common urinary tract pathogen in young women, but its relative importance is low compared with <italic>E. coli</italic> even in this patient group. For women in other ages and for men, growth of <italic>S. saprophyticus</italic> is a quite uncommon finding.</p> </abstract>