Urinary infection in adult men: a laboratory perspective

During a 10-week period all mid-stream urine specimens from males aged 15 years and upwards, excluding hospital in-patients, with symptoms suggesting urinary tract infection were examined by techniques capable of detecting aerobes and fastidious organisms. Five hundred and eighty-five such specimens were received; 85% were sent by general practitioners and 182 were from men aged less than 45 years, indicating that urinary symptoms are commoner in young men than is usually believed and that diagnosis and treatment are usually undertaken by general practitioners. One hundred and seventy-nine specimens yielded aerobic pathogens and 140 yielded fastidious organisms; 70% of the former and 33% of the latter showed pyuria. Only 12% of the 196 specimens showing pyuria yielded a negative culture. The possibility of prostatic infection and its relevance to treatment are discussed. Some post-treatment data are presented.