Intended for healthcare professionals

Rapid response to:

Primary Care 10-minute consultation

Recurrent urinary tract infection in women

BMJ 2003; 327 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.327.7425.1204 (Published 20 November 2003) Cite this as: BMJ 2003;327:1204

Rapid Response:

Teaching patients to collect urine samples.

May I add that patients should be taught the proper way to collect
urine? A clean catch mid stream urine collection is essential. I knew one
woman who was repeatedly treated with antibiotics after her urine samples
kept turning positive for bacteria. On questioning, it was evident that
she submitted the first stream of urine that she passed for analysis.
After I instructed her to get a clean catch mid stream urine her
urinalysis tested negative. She has not been on antibiotics since then.

Competing interests:
None declared

Editorial note
The patient has given her signed informed consent to publication of her case details.

Competing interests: No competing interests

03 December 2003
Leonardo G Fugoso Jr.
Attending, Neurology and Movement Disorders
St. Lukes Medical Center, E. Rodriguez Boulevard, Quezon City 1102, Philippinesz