Failure of Prolonged Treatment of Chronic Urinary-Tract Infections with Antibiotics

Abstract

CHRONIC urinary-tract infections are often refractory to antimicrobial therapy or recur after cessation of treatment. The paucity of cures in these patients after antibacterial therapy may not be solely due to inability of the drug to eradicate foci of infection within the renal parenchyma, but may involve other factors known to predispose to sepsis of the urinary tract, such as structural abnormalities, renal stones, diabetes mellitus, pregnancy, repeated instrumentation and surgical manipulations of the urethra, bladder or ureters.^{1 , 2} Frequently, however, none of these factors are present, or, if recognized, they cannot be remedied. Furthermore, it has been postulated that chronic . . .