Wendy Cheng, PhD, MPH

Panelists discuss how American Urological Association (AUA) guidelines for recurrent uncomplicated urinary tract infections (UTIs) in women recommend culture-confirmed diagnosis, prophylactic antibiotics, nonantibiotic prevention, self-initiated treatment, and behavioral modifications while noting pivmecillinam’s recent FDA approval. Pivmecillinam features a penicillin-binding protein 2 inhibition mechanism with 85% to 95% efficacy against gram-negative uropathogens, including extended-spectrum β-lactamase producers; minimal intestinal flora disruption; low resistance rates; and primarily mild gastrointestinal adverse effects.

Panelists discuss how treatment failure in uncomplicated urinary tract infections (UTIs) creates substantial economic burden through direct costs of additional health care visits, repeated diagnostic tests, and rescue medications alongside indirect costs from productivity losses, with implications including progression to complicated infections such as pyelonephritis, increased emergency department use, antimicrobial resistance development threatening broader public health, psychological impacts on patients, and strain on health care resources that could be mitigated through more effective initial treatment strategies.

Panelists discuss how significant gaps in current uncomplicated urinary tract infection (UTI) therapies include insufficient nonantibiotic preventive strategies, limited options for multidrug-resistant pathogens, inadequate personalized treatment approaches, minimal focus on biofilm disruption, lack of rapid point-of-care diagnostics to guide targeted therapy, poor understanding of the urinary microbiome’s role in infection susceptibility, and insufficient research into immunomodulatory interventions that could address the underlying mechanisms of recurrence and resistance development.

Panelists discuss how fluoroquinolones are generally reserved for uncomplicated urinary tract infections (UTIs) only when first-line options are contraindicated or pathogen resistance is confirmed, with treatment duration ranging from single-dose fosfomycin to 3 to 5 days for most antibiotics and 7 to 10 days for nitrofurantoin, noting shorter regimens typically achieve 85% to 95% adherence rates compared with 60% to 75% for longer courses, significantly affecting treatment success, particularly when patient factors such as adverse effects, dosing complexity, and lifestyle disruptions are considered.

Panelists discuss how standard-of-care antibiotics for uncomplicated urinary tract infections (UTIs) show varying efficacy, with nitrofurantoin and fosfomycin demonstrating superior response rates (85%-95%) compared with trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (70%-80% due to increasing resistance) and first-generation cephalosporins (80%-90%), and how cost-effectiveness depends on local resistance patterns, patient adherence to dosing schedules, medication costs and insurance coverage, treatment duration, recurrence rates, comorbidities, and potential adverse effects requiring additional interventions.

Panelists discuss how uncomplicated urinary tract infections (UTIs) are typically managed with empiric short-course antibiotics based on local resistance patterns while identifying significant gaps in the outdated 2010 Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) guidelines, including insufficient guidance on emerging resistance trends, limited recommendations for alternative therapies, inadequate consideration of patient-specific factors, absence of antimicrobial stewardship protocols, and minimal direction on prevention strategies for recurrent infections.

Panelists discuss how clinicians are addressing antimicrobial stewardship in urinary tract infection (UTI) management through implementation of evidence-based guidelines, delayed prescribing strategies, shorter treatment durations, targeted narrow-spectrum antibiotics based on local resistance patterns, increased use of culture-guided therapy, nonantibiotic preventive approaches, and enhanced patient education about appropriate antibiotic use.

Panelists discuss how patients with recurrent urinary tract infections (UTIs) describe significant burdens including constant anxiety about symptom onset, disruption to work and social life, financial strain from frequent office visits and medications, frustration with treatment-resistant infections, embarrassment discussing symptoms, sexual dysfunction, relationship difficulties, and substantial mental health impacts such as depression and diminished quality of life.

Panelists discuss how comprehensive patient education about proper hygiene practices, adequate hydration, voiding habits, and early symptom recognition significantly reduces urinary tract infection (UTI) incidence and recurrence rates, suggesting enhancement through personalized multimedia resources, telehealth follow-ups, community health programs, and improved provider-patient communication regarding preventive strategies.

Panelists discuss how uncomplicated urinary tract infection (UTI) recurrence affects 20% to 30% of female patients within 6 months of initial infection, with contributing factors including anatomical variances, hormonal changes, genetic predisposition, insufficient treatment duration, resistant pathogens, and biofilm formation that persists despite proper adherence to standard antibiotic protocols.

Panelists discuss how social determinants of health significantly influence uncomplicated urinary tract infection (UTI) prevalence and outcomes, with patients with lower income, those from rural areas, and those lacking consistent health care access experiencing higher infection rates, delayed treatment, increased complications, and poorer overall treatment success.

Panelists discuss how their practices have observed an increasing trend in uncomplicated urinary tract infections (UTIs), particularly among younger adult women and those with recurrent infections, noting potential contributing factors such as antibiotic resistance patterns and delayed care-seeking behaviors.

Wendy Cheng, PhD, MPH, discusses how the study on the efficacy of gepotidacin vs nitrofurantoin in a nitrofurantoin-resistant population (a pooled analysis of the EAGLE-2 and EAGLE-3 trials) aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of gepotidacin as a first-in-class oral therapy for uncomplicated urinary tract infections (uUTIs), showing promising results in overcoming antimicrobial resistance and potentially filling critical gaps in current UTI treatments.

Wendy Cheng, PhD, MPH, discusses how the largest unmet needs in the landscape of urinary tract infections (UTIs) include addressing antimicrobial resistance, improving treatment options for resistant strains, and developing novel therapies to fill gaps in current UTI management.