Seasonality of symptomatic bacterial urinary infections in women

Bacterial infections of the female urinary tract (UTI) are a frequent clinical problem. A chance observation, supported by a one year survey reported from another country, suggested that UTI presented to the general practitioner more frequently in the summer. A retrospective survey, covering three consecutive years, was carried out to test this observation. The records of all women reported as attending this practice with a UTI showed that 213 culture positive episodes occurred in the third calendar quarter of each year. Edward's test for cyclic variation showed a significant peaking in August. These results indicate a definite seasonal fluctuation in the frequency with which symptomatic UTIs present to general practitioners in this practice. The clinical and epidemiological significance of this phenomenon remains to be determined.