Treat UTIs Early in Older Adults 'to Minimize Sepsis Risk'

A study published in The BMJ warns delaying treatment of urinary tract infections (UTIs) in older adults could significantly elevate the risk of bloodstream infection and all-cause mortality, reports the Pharmaceutical Journal . The researchers analyzed U.K. general practice data from 2007 to 2015 on 157,264 adults 65 years and older who had a total of 312,896 UTI episodes. Generally, 22,534 subjects went without antibiotics and 19,292 received a delayed antibiotic prescription within a week of diagnosis. In comparison to receiving immediate antibiotics, the risk of bloodstream infection within 60 days increased eightfold with no antibiotics and sevenfold with delayed antibiotics. The danger of all-cause mortality climbed by 118 percent and 16 percent in those respective cohorts. Men 85 or older were especially at risk for both bloodstream infection and 60-day all-cause mortality. "Early initiation of recommended first-line antibiotics for UTI in the older population is advocated," the researchers said.