URINARY TRACT DISEASES Infections of the Urinary Tract I-Diagnosis

Symptoms suggesting infection of the urinary tract are common. In domiciliary practice they are encountered in 12 to 20 of every 1,000 consultations. During the past fifteen years quantitative bacteriology has shown the important role of bacteriuria in causing these symptoms. At a time when considerable medical resources are being invested in treating terminal renal failure, interest in a preventable cause of progressive renal disease is appropriate. The article this week considers some of the present problems of the diagnosis of infections of the urinary tract; the inadequacies of a purely symptomatic approach; the significance of recent developments in bacteriological techniques; and the enigma of the pathology of pyelonephritis. A second article, appearing next week, will be devoted to the management of patients with infections of the urinary tract.