UNCOMPLICATED URINARY-TRACT INFECTIONS - IS SINGLE-DOSE THERAPY EFFECTIVE

Short-term therapy, including single-dose treatment and up to 3-day co urses, can be considered the treatment of choice in female patients wi th acute uncomplicated lower urinary tract infections (UUTI) because o f equal effectiveness, better tolerance and compliance, and lower cost as compared with conventional therapy. Retrospective analysis of seve ral studies with cotrimoxazole, however, suggested that results obtain ed with a single dose may be inferior, and therefore a 3-day treatment may be more prudent. Longer therapy was not considered to be necessar y. On the other hand, studies with substances like fosfomycin trometam ol and some of the fluoroquinolones, especially when using substances with prolonged half-lives such as fleroxacin and pefloxacin, have demo nstrated that single-dose therapy is as effective as other standard re gimens. This controversy may be settled by defining the appropriate ag ents for single-dose as well as those for 3-day treatment. Agents whic h have not been shown to be effective in any of these short-term regim ens should no longer be propagated for the treatment of UUTI. In conse quence, no further studies using conventional therapy of UUTI are nece ssary in the future.