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Test urine before prescribing antibiotics for most UTIs, says NICE

BMJ 2018; 361 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.k2076 (Published 10 May 2018) Cite this as: BMJ 2018;361:k2076
  1. Susan Mayor
  1. London

Healthcare professionals should ask patients about the severity and frequency of their symptoms before considering antibiotics for lower urinary tract infections (UTIs) and should send a midstream urine sample for antibiotic susceptibility testing in most cases, draft guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends.1

“Urinary infections can make people feel very uncomfortable and unwell, and in some cases may become serious,” said Tessa Lewis, a GP in Blaenavon, Wales, and chair of the NICE guidance committee on managing common infections. “It is important that we treat these infections with an …

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