Objective: Uncomplicated cystitis in women is among the most frequent infections in the community setting. The German results of the international ARESC Study are reported concerning clinical aspects, epidemiology, and antimicrobial susceptibility of uropathogens.
Patients and methods: Patients between 18 and 65 years of age with symptoms of uncomplicated cystitis were consecutively enrolled and investigated clinically including urinalysis and urine culture. Uropathogens were identified and their susceptibility was tested for nine antimicrobials
Results: In Germany a total of 442 patients were enrolled and 412 were eligible. A positive urine culture (cfu>/=10(4)/ml) was found in 335 (81.3%); 325 (97.1%) of them had a monoinfection. A total of 317 uropathogens were further analyzed in a central laboratory (Genua). Escherichia coli was the most frequent (76.7%), followed by Proteus mirabilis (4.7%), Staphylococcus saprophyticus (2.8%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (2.5%), enterococci (2.5%), and Staphylococcus aureus (2.2%). E. coli showed the highest rate of susceptibility to fosfomycin (97.9%) followed by mecillinam (97.5%), nitrofurantoin (95.4%), and ciprofloxacin (95.4%). The lowest rate was found for ampicillin (59.2%) followed by cotrimoxazole (74.0%). For the total spectrum the order was fosfomycin (96.1%), mecillinam (97.5%), ciprofloxacin (92.3%), and nitrofurantoin (86.3%). The lowest rates were found again for ampicillin (56.6%) and cotrimoxazole (73.9%).
Conclusions: Fosfomycin, mecillinam (not available in Germany), and nitrofurantoin have preserved their in vitro activity and are suitable for empiric therapy. Because of increasing resistance rates cotrimoxazole (trimethoprim) and fluoroquinolones are generally not recommended as first-choice drugs for empiric therapy of female patients with uncomplicated cystitis.