Editorial
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2019. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Meta-Anal. Jul 31, 2019; 7(7): 339-342
Published online Jul 31, 2019. doi: 10.13105/wjma.v7.i7.339
Asymptomatic bacteriuria among hospitalized diabetic patients: Should they be treated?
Manuel J Ramos-Ramirez, Salim Surani
Manuel J Ramos-Ramirez, Corpus Christi Medical Center, Corpus Christi, TX 78412, United States
Salim Surani, Medical Critical Care Services, Christus Spohn Hospitals-Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi, TX 78413, United States
Author contributions: Ramos-Ramirez MJ and Surani S contributed to the writing of this manuscript; Final manuscript was approved by all authors.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have declared no conflicts of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Salim Surani, BSc, FACC, FACP, FCCP, MD, Professor, Medical Critical Care Services, Christus Spohn Hospitals-Corpus Christi, 701 Ayers Street, Corpus Christi, TX 78404, United States. srsurani@hotmail.com
Telephone: +1-36-18857722 Fax: +1-36-18507563
Received: May 25, 2019
Peer-review started: June 10, 2019
First decision: July 26, 2019
Revised: July 26, 2019
Accepted: July 29, 2019
Article in press: July 29, 2019
Published online: July 31, 2019
Abstract

Diabetes Mellitus is a significant health care challenge in the United States. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimates approximately 9.4% of patients in the United States are afflicted by diabetes. The Infectious Disease Society of America asymptomatic bacteriuria in women as two consecutive clean-catch voided urine specimens with isolation of the same bacterial strain in counts ≥ 105 cfu/mL It is understood that diabetic patients tend to be at higher risk for infections than non-diabetics. Urinary tract infections (UTIs) tend to be the most common infection contracted by this population. UTIs are not only a significant cause of morbidity and mortality, they are also a significant financial burden. The data are conflicting, in regard to treating asymptomatic bacteriuria in diabetic patients to avoid hospital complications and ultimately decrease healthcare costs associated with these complications. However, clinicians continue to prescribe antibiotics empirically. Further randomized controlled study looking into the specific population as immunocompromised diabetic patients, patient with diabetic ketoacidosis and patient in intensive care unit needs to be undertaken.

Keywords: Asymptomatic bacteriuria, Diabetes mellitus, Hospitalized diabetics, Urinary tract infection

Core tip: Urinary tract infections among diabetics can predispose patients to significant morbidity, mortality, and increased healthcare costs. Data remains controversial as it pertains to treatment of asymptomatic bacteriuria in hospitalized diabetics in reducing the risk of urinary tract infection, complications, and healthcare costs.