TRANSMISSION OF UROPATHOGENS BETWEEN SEX PARTNERS

Epidemiologic evidence and several case reports suggest that Escherich ia coli causing urinary tract infection (UTI) may be transmitted betwe en sex partners, In order to test this hypothesis, urinary, vaginal, a nd fecal E, coli isolates from 19 women with UTI were compared with E, coli found in random initial voids from their most recent male sex pa rtner, E. coli was isolated from 4 of 19 male sex partners. In each ca se, the E. coli isolated from the man was identical by pulsed-field ge l electrophoresis and bacterial virulence profile to the urinary E, co li from his sex partner.