Infectious Diseases Society of America guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of asymptomatic bacteriuria in adults

Asymptomatic bacteriuria is common. Pregnant women with asymptomatic bacteriuria are at an increased risk for adverse outcomes, and these can be prevented with antimicrobial treatment of asymptomatic bacteriuria. Thus, pregnant women should be screened for bacteriuria and treated if test results are positive. Asymptomatic bacteriuria is also a risk for patients who undergo traumatic urologic interventions with mucosal bleeding, and such patients should be treated prior to such interventions. For all other adult populations, asymptomatic bacteriuria has not been shown to be harmful. Although persons with bacteriuria are at an increased risk of symptomatic urinary infection, treatment of asymptomatic bacteriuria does not decrease the frequency of symptomatic infection or improve other outcomes. Thus, in populations other than those for whom treatment has been documented to be beneficial, screening for or treatment of asymptomatic bacteriuria is not appropriate and should be discouraged. © 2005 by the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved.