Antibiotic Resistance in Urinary Tract Infections: Current Issues and Future Solutions

1.1 Incidence and costs UTIs are a major source of morbidity and associated healthcare costs in the United States (US). Community-acquired UTIs largely affect women of reproductive age, with 11% of women experiencing infections each year, one-third of women having an infection by the age of 26, and 60% experiencing at least one infection during their lifetime (Foxman et al., 2000). In 1997, the last year for which epidemiological data is available, these infections resulted in 7 million physician office visits and 1 million emergency room visits (Foxman, 2002). Treatment of these infections cost $1.6 billion in 1995 (Foxman et al., 2000), which is the equivalent of $2.2 billion in inflation-adjusted 2009 dollars. UTIs are also a major health problem for hospitalized patients, especially those undergoing long-term catheterization. Catheter-associated UTIs account for >40% of nosocomial infections, with over 1 million cases per year at a cost of $451 million (Jacobsen et al., 2008).