Purpose of review: Our goal was to summarize recent evidence regarding recurrent urinary tract infections and asymptomatic bacteriuria in different adult populations.
Recent findings: Several research groups are focused on the description of resident bacterial flora in the bladder and urinary dysbiosis in the microbiome era. Even the definitions might change in light of these discoveries. However, the role of urinary microbiome and bacterial interference has still to be determined.
Summary: Systematic treatment of asymptomatic bacteriuria is not recommended and even classic indications such as asymptomatic bacteriuria in pregnant women are controversial. In fact, its treatment is associated with a higher probability of symptomatic UTI and a higher prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Improving the diagnosis of asymptomatic bacteriuria and optimizing the management of recurrent urinary tract infections, especially through non-antibiotics measures, are needed in order to minimise antimicrobial resistance.
Keywords: Asymptomatic bacteriuria; Prophylaxis; Urinary microbiota; Urinary tract infections.
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2021.