Profiles of Urinary Tract Infections in General Practice

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are one of the most common bacterial infections managed in general practice: they are the 2nd site of community-acquired bacterial infection after respiratory infections (4-6 million consultations per year in France).

UTIs represent 15% of total antibiotic prescriptions in France. Antibiotics recommended for UTIs, except for cystitis, are considered as "critical" (highly generating bacterial resistances). UTIs are a potential source of antibiotic resistance: often inappropriate antibiotic prescriptions, evolution of the resistance profiles of the bacteria involved, emergence of multi-resistant strains.

The first hypothesis is that there are other profiles of clinical UTI situations in general practice than typical cystitis or pyelonephritis, including intermediate forms.

The second hypothesis is that these intermediate forms of UTI are subject to longer durations of antibiotherapy, and that probable explanatory factors need to be identified.