Coloplast Launches Male Catheter Designed to Reduce the Risk of Urinary Tract Infections

The new intermittent catheter Luja™ addresses important risk factors for urinary tract infections, a significant burden for people using intermittent catheters as well as healthcare systems as a whole. Urinary tract infections represent a significant challenge for people who use intermittent catheters to empty their bladder. This includes people living with spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis, or spina bifida. On average, intermittent catheter users have 2-3 urinary tract infections per year, which can lead to serious health complications, have a significant impact on quality of life, and result in hospitalisation, thereby putting pressure on local healthcare systems. Read more.

Source: Yahoo News, February 2, 2023

Urinary Tract Infections: A New Antibiotic May Be on the Way to Treat UTIs

A new type of antibiotic for treating urinary tract infections (UTIs) may be available sooner than expected. Gepotidacin, manufactured by the pharmaceutical company GSK, is being described as “novel” or “first-in-class” because of how it works to prevent or slow bacterial DNA replication. If approved, gepotidacin would be the first new antibiotic developed for treating UTIs in more than 20 years. It would also be available at least a year ahead of the estimated study completion date. Read more.

Source: healthline, November 8, 2022

Why People with Diabetes Have More UTIs and How to Prevent Infections

Infections, especially urinary tract infections (UTIs), are common experiences for people with diabetes. UTIs are also often more severe in people with diabetes than they are in those without diabetes. UTIs may lead to serious kidney problems in those with diabetes, such as renal abscesses, emphysematous cystitis and pyelonephritis, and renal papillary necrosis. Read more.

Source: Medical News Today, September 27, 2022

Bladder-on-a-Chip and Bladder Organoids Reveal Dynamics of UTIs

Researchers at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland developed two complementary benchtop bladder models that could help in understanding the mechanisms behind recurring urinary tract infections (UTIs). The first involves bladder organoids, which allow the researchers to study bacterial-bladder cell interactions under realistic conditions, which include the 3D multi-layered architecture of the bladder wall. The second is a bladder-on-a-chip, which includes additional features that mimic the bladder environment, including the mechanical effects of bladder filling and voiding and bladder vasculature. Read more.

Source: Medgadget, August 3, 2021

Smartphone Camera Test for Urinary Tract Infections

Researchers at the University of Bath have developed a simple point-of-care test for urinary tract infections that uses a smartphone camera. The system can rapidly detect the presence of E. coli in urine samples and could guide doctors in their decision to prescribe antibiotics, ensuring appropriate patient care and avoiding the overuse of antimicrobial medication. It can sometimes be difficult for clinicians to know whether to prescribe antibiotics. Unnecessary use of antibiotics is resulting in antimicrobial resistance, which will pose significant challenges to healthcare in the coming years. However, if a patient has an infection, such as a urinary tract infection (UTI), then antibiotics are undoubtedly warranted, but it can sometimes be difficult for a clinician to know for sure if a patient’s symptoms are caused by an infection. Read more.

Source: Medgadget, January 9, 2020

FDA Approves New Drug for UTI, Two Devices for OAB/Incontinence

November 2019 proved to be a fruitful month for urology-specific FDA approvals, with the agency giving the green light to a new drug for complicated urinary tract infection, an implantable device for the treatment of overactive bladder/retention, and a digital product for strengthening of pelvic floor muscles and treatment of urinary incontinence in women. The FDA approved cefiderocol (FETROJA) in patients 18 years of age or older who have limited or no alternative treatment options, for the treatment of complicated urinary tract infections (cUTI), including pyelonephritis, caused by the following: susceptible Gram-negative microorganisms: Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus mirabilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacter cloacae complex. Read more.

Source: Urology Times, December 4, 2019

Urinary Tract Infections Affect Millions. The Cures Are Faltering

For generations, urinary tract infections, one of the world’s most common ailments, have been easily and quickly cured with a simple course of antibiotics. But there is growing evidence that the infections, which afflict millions of Americans a year, mostly women, are increasingly resistant to these medicines, turning a once-routine diagnosis into one that is leading to more hospitalizations, graver illnesses and prolonged discomfort from the excruciating burning sensation that the infection brings. The New York City Department of Health has become so concerned about drug-resistant U.T.I.s, as they are widely known, that it introduced a new mobile phone app this month that gives doctors and nurses access to a list of strains of urinary tract infections and which drugs they are resistant to. Read more.

Source: New York Times, July 13, 2019

Smart Diaper Detects Urinary Tract Infections

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are dangerous for infants and the elderly. While the onset of UTIs generally involves pain and other symptoms, young children are not able to describe how they’re feeling, while the elderly may suffer from neurodegenerative conditions that reduce sensation in the affected area. Moreover, it’s difficult to obtain a sample for testing from those that wear diapers. Now, engineers at Purdue University have developed a sensor-embedded diaper that can accurately point to the presence of a bacterial infection in the urinary tract. Read more.

Source: Medgadget, June 25, 2019

Why So Many Older Women Develop UTIs

Urinary tract infections are one of the indignities many women face as they age. One reason why is because their bladder walls can be invaded by several species of bacteria, a new study finds. Urinary tract infections, or UTIs, are among the most common type of bacterial infections in women, accounting for nearly 25% of all infections. UTI recurrence rates can range from 16%-36% in younger women to 55% in postmenopausal women. In the new study, researchers at University of Texas Southwestern (UTSW) in Dallas analyzed bacteria in bladder biopsies from 14 postmenopausal women with recurrent UTI. The investigators found that, in these patients, several species of bacteria can get inside the bladder’s surface area. Read more.

Source: HealthDay News, May 20, 2019