Hemophilus influenzae as a cause of urinary tract infections in men

Hemophilus influenzae has rarely been reported to cause urinary tract infections, but media supportive of its growth are not routinely used for urine cultures. At two Veterans Administration medical centers, H influenzae was isolated from the urine of eight men in the past four years. All had anatomic or functional genitourinary abnormalities, and half had had chronic pyelonephritis or recurrent urinary tract infections. Three patients had acute cystitis, two patients had pyelonephritis, two patients had prostatitis, and one patient had asymptomatic bacteriuria with pyuria. Cases were discovered by primary isolation on chocolate agar or sheep's blood agar, by "satelliting" around staphylococci, or by positive urine Gram's stains. Urine Gram's stains disclosed organisms in all six nonprostatitis cases. Organisms were all nonserotypable, were of biotypes 2, 3, or 4, and were beta-lactamase negative. Hemophilus influenzae may be a more common uropathogen in adults than previously recognized.