[Risk factors and sensitivity to certain antibiotics in hospital urinary infections]

Urinary infections contracted in hospital are one of the most important health problems. The present paper looks at 549 hospitalised patients and 548 subjects referred to the laboratory for routine tests over a period of 6 months. The results showed a higher number of hospital infections in the Medicine Department and this number was directly proportional to certain risk factors such as the presence of a catheter at home, the greater age of patients and a poorer physical condition. The strains most frequently isolated were E. coli and Pseudomonas spp although percentages were different between out-patients and hospitalised patients. The infections in question might be reduced and, at least partially, controlled by means of stricter hygiene on the part of personnel and by a moderate use of vesical catheterism.