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SUBCLINICAL RENAL INFECTION IN PREGNANCY PATHOGENESIS, THE ORGANISMS AND THE DRUGS OF CHOICE IN ITS TREATMENT
Author(s) -
Wren Barry G.
Publication year - 1969
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1969.tb107488.x
Subject(s) - pregnancy , subclinical infection , asymptomatic , medicine , ampicillin , population , urinary system , nitrofurantoin , urine , nalidixic acid , disease , pathogenesis , physiology , antibiotics , intensive care medicine , immunology , biology , ciprofloxacin , microbiology and biotechnology , genetics , environmental health
1. The literature is reviewed to show that asymptomatic bacilluria is a disease of young women and that the bladder normally has the ability to cope with this in the non‐pregnant woman. Pregnancy, with increased obstruction to urine outflow and urinary retention, predisposes to progressive infection or to reflux, leading to either acute or subclinical pyelonephritis. 2. The organisms involved in bacilluria in pregnancy have been found to have the same distribution as organisms in urinary infection found at other times. The predominant organism was Escherichia coli, and this organism responded well to the régime of chemotherapy instituted. 3. Evidence is produced to show that the chemotherapeutic agents nalidixic acid, nitrofurantoin, ampicillin and sulphafurazole eliminate organisms from the urine and virtually remove the associated risks of pregnancy. The four chemotherapeutic agents were found to be most suitable to treat bacilluria in the out‐patient department, and it is recommended that they be given continuously and in rotation to gain the best results from their use. 4. The routine screening for urinary organisms of all young women should be performed, but because pregnant women are virtually a captive section of the population for six months, they are ideally suited for this investigation. By detecting and adequately treating bacilluria at an early stage, the serious condition of chronic pyelonephritis may be greatly reduced.