Antibiotics Are Not Indispensable When Preventing Recurrent UTI

Recurrent UTI (urinary track infection) is one of the most common diseases that have made a lot of people suffer for years. Thus, there are various options available, and some of which may be beneficial for adults with recurrent urinary tract infections, but a lot of are tend to take antibiotics to prevent the reoccurrence of UTI. However, antibiotic prevention is not that effective as we have expected, according to a review and meta-analysis published in the December issue of The Journal of Urology. 

 

There was a trend toward preventing urinary tract infections with vaginal estrogens (two trials; relative risk, 0.42; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.16 to 1.10), but in 6 to 20 percent of women, vaginal irritation occurred. Recurrence was also decreased with cranberries (two trials; relative risk, 0.53) and acupuncture (two open-label trials; relative risk, 0.48). The rate of recurrence was not decreased with oral estrogens and lactobacilli.

 

Mariëlle A.J. Beerepoot, M.D., from the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam, and colleagues reviewed the literature to evaluate the effectiveness, tolerability, and safety of methods to prevent UTI without antibiotics in adults. The literature is summarized from 17 studies which involved in 2,165 patients in total.

 

It’s found that the recurrence rate of UTI was decreased with use of the oral immunostimulant OM-89 (four trials; risk ratio, 0.61), with a good safety profile and a slight decreases with the vaginal vaccine Urovac (three trials; relative risk, 0.81), but the time to be re-infected was increased with primary immunization followed by booster immunization. 

 

We can see that antibiotics are not indispensable when prevent the recurrence of UTI. Besides, they often make the bacteria in our body produce resistance, causing mutation of pathogens and difficulty in curing UTI when it comes back. As a matter of fact, traditional Chinese medicine such as the diuretic and anti-inflammatory pill is another choice for curing recurrent UTI. Herbs will not cause any side effects during the treatment and can be taken for a long time. Except that they need a little more time before obvious improvement can be observed, they can cure the UTI completely and prevent it reoccurs after three months.