Effect of consecutive antibacterial therapy on bacteriuria in hospitalized geriatric patients

The effects of treatment with a consecutive series of different antibacterial drugs, most of them commonly used in urinary tract infections, were studied in 36 hospitalized geriatric patients with bacteriuria. Most of the patients had advanced handicaps and all had urinary incontinence. Urinary acidifying drugs, penicillin V, sulfonamide, nitrofurantoin, nalidixic acid, and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole were used as antibacterial agents. The general conclusion was that even the administration of a series of potent antibacterial drugs only rather seldom eliminates bacteriuria in such patients, and that the original bacteria in most cases are replaced by strains highly resistant to antibacterial drugs. The treatment had obvious influence on the clinical state only in one patient.