PURPOSE

The purpose of this guideline is to provide recommendations for diagnosis and treatment of asymptomatic bacteriuria in adult populations> 18 years of age. The recommendations were developed on the basis of a review of published evidence, with the strength of the recommendation and quality of the evidence graded using previously described Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) criteria (table 1)[1]. Recommendations are relevant only for the treatment of asymptomatic bacteriuria and do not address prophylaxis for prevention of symptomatic or asymptomatic urinary infection. This guideline is not meant to replace clinical judgment.

Screening of asymptomatic subjects for bacteriuria is appropriate if bacteriuria has adverse outcomes that can be prevented by antimicrobial therapy [2]. Outcomes of interest are short term, such as symptomatic urinary infection (including bacteremia with sepsis or worsening functional status), and longer term, such as progression to chronic kidney disease or hypertension, development of urinary tract cancer, or decreased duration of survival. Treatment of asymptomatic bacteriuria may itself be associated with undesirable outcomes, including subsequent antimicrobial resistance, adverse drug effects, and cost. If treatment of bacteriuria is not beneficial, screening of asymp-tomatic populations to identify bacteriuria is not indicated, unless performed in a research study to further explore the biology or clinical significance of bacteriuria. Thus, there are 2 topics of interest: whether asymptomatic bacteriuria is associated with adverse outcomes, and whether the interventions of screening and antimicrobial treatment improve these